House Republicans drop Jim Jordan as their nominee for speaker after he fails to win third floor vote

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, House Judiciary chairman and staunch ally of Donald Trump, meets with reporters about his struggle to become speaker of the House, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

By LISA MASCARO, FARNOUSH AMIRI, STEPHEN GROVES and KEVING FREKING Associated Press

Republicans dropped Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Friday as their nominee for House speaker, making the decision during a closed-door session after the ally of Donald Trump failed on a third ballot for the gavel.

Republicans will need to unite to elect a new speaker and return to work after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) was ousted as house speaker earlier this month.

Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) said they’re going “come back and start over” on Monday.

In all, Jordan lost 25 Republican colleagues in Friday’s vote, three more than the second vote and five more than the first.

Ahead of the vote, Jordan showed no signs of stepping aside, insisting at a Capitol press conference: “The American people are hungry for change.”

Drawing on his Ohio roots, Jordan, who is popular with the GOP’s right-flank activist base of voters, positioned his campaign alongside the history of American innovators including the Wright brothers, urging his colleagues to elect him to the speakership.

McCarthy himself rose in the chamber to nominate Jordan, portraying him as a skilled legislator who reaches for compromise. That drew scoffs of laughter from the Democratic side of the aisle.

McCarthy said of Jordan, “He is straightforward, honest and reliable.”

Democrats nominated Leader Hakeem Jeffries, with Rep. Katherine Clark calling Jordan, who refused to certify the 2020 presidential election results, “a threat to democracy.”

“We need a speaker worthy of wielding the gavel,” she said.

Friday’s vote was 194 for Jordan, his lowest tally yet, and 210 for Jeffries, with two absences on each side.

With Republicans in majority control of the House, 221-212, any candidate can lose only a few detractors. It appears there is no Republican at present who can win a clear majority, 217 votes, to become speaker.

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