Having lost the first vote to become House speaker, Rep. Jim Jordan was losing ground Wednesday on a decisive second ballot that is testing whether the hard-edged ally of Donald Trump can win over detractors or if his bid for the gavel has collapsed.
The House gaveled in with angry, frustrated GOP lawmakers looking at other options. And as the rollcall was underway, a few new detractors emerged to oppose Jordan who did not seem to be picking up new votes beyond one lawmaker who was absent the day before.
Ahead of the morning vote, Jordan made an unexpected plea for party unity, the combative Judiciary Committee chairman telling his colleagues on social media, “We must stop attacking each other and come together.”
A surprisingly large and politically diverse group of 20 Republicans had rejected Jordan’s nomination the day before, many resenting the hardball tactics seeking to enforce support, and viewing the Ohio congressman as too extreme for the powerful position of House speaker, second in line to the presidency.
Some predicted the number of dissenters would grow rather than shrink during next round voting, and were floating a plan that would give the interim speaker-pro-tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., more power to reopen the House and conduct routine business..
“We’ve been at this two weeks. American people deserve to have their their government functioning. Let’s get an answer,” he said.
The House has hit a standstill, stuck while Jordan worked to shore up backing from Republican colleagues for the job to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy. Republicans are exhausted by the infighting since McCarthy’s sudden removal by hard-liners, who are now within reach of a central seat of U.S. power.
The vote for House speaker, once a formality in Congress, has devolved into another bitter showdown for the gavel.
With Republicans in majority control 221-212, Jordan must pick up most of his GOP foes to win. Tuesday’s the tally, with 200 Republicans voting for Jordan and 212 for the Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, left no candidate with a clear majority, as the 20 Republicans voted for someone else. .
Jeffries swiftly intervened, declaring it was time for Republicans to partner with Democrats to reopen the House — in what would be an extraordinary if not unprecedented moment in congressional history.
Bipartisan groups of lawmakers have been floating ways to operate the House by giving greater power to McHenry or another temporary speaker. The House had never ousted its speaker before McCarthy, and the lawmakers are in rarely tested terrain.
The novel concept of boosting the interim speaker’s role was gaining favor with a pair of surprising high-profile Republicans: Former GOP speakers Newt Gingrich and John Boehner.
Gingrich said while he likes Jordan, he has “no faith” the nominee can get much beyond the 200 votes he won in the first vote.
“We can’t sit around and suck our thumbs and hope the world will wait until the House Republicans get their act together,” Gingrich told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on his show.
Boehner reposted Gingrich’s views saying, “I agree,” on social media.
The two men have deep experience with the subject. Both were chased to early retirement by threats of ouster from right-flank insurgents like those who toppled McCarthy.
“The Republicans are unable to function right now,” said Jeffries. He said talks would “accelerate” between Democrats and Republicans on alternative plans.
But with public pressure bearing down on lawmakers from Trump’s allies, including Hannity, it’s unclear how long the holdouts against Jordan can last. Already, some lawmakers said their first vote was merely a protest, and they would be with Jordan on next rounds.
“Jim Jordan will be a great speaker,” the former president said outside a courthouse in Manhattan, where he is facing business fraud charges. “I think he’s going to have the votes soon, if not today, over the next day or two.”
Flexing their independence, the holdouts are a mix of pragmatists — ranging from seasoned legislators and committee chairs worried about governing, to newer lawmakers from districts where voters back home prefer President Joe Biden to Trump.
Some Republicans resent being pressured by Jordan’s allies and say they are being threatened with primary opponents if they don’t support him as speaker. Others are simply upset at the way the whole process has dragged out.
As Tuesday’s somber roll call was underway, each lawmaker announcing their choice, the holdouts quickly surfaced.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a leader of the centrists, voted for McCarthy, the ousted former speaker. Murmurs rippled through the chamber. Others voted for Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who was the party’s first nominee to replace McCarthy before he, too, was rejected by hardliners last week.
One, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., a veteran appropriator, said later that he would not be “pressured or intimidated” over his vote. “That millisecond when anybody tries to intimidate me is the moment where I no longer have the flexibility.”
Another holdout, Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, said Jordan’s role in the runup to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and his refusal to admit that Biden, a Democrat, won the 2020 election remained an issue.
Jordan has been a top Trump ally, particularly during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack by the former president’s backers who were trying to overturn the 2020 election he lost to Biden. Days later, Trump awarded Jordan a Medal of Freedom.
The political climb has been steep for Jordan, the combative Judiciary Committee chairman and a founding member of the right-flank Freedom Caucus. He is known more as a chaos agent than a skilled legislator, raising questions about how he would lead. Congress faces daunting challenges, risking a federal shutdown at home if it fails to fund the government and fielding Biden’s requests for aid to help Ukraine and Israel in the wars abroad.
Immediately after the vote, Jordan conferred with McCarthy, who fared nearly as badly in January, having lost almost as many votes on the first of what would become a historic 15 ballots for the gavel.
First elected in 2006, Jordan has few bills to his name from his time in office. He also faces questions about his past. Some years ago, Jordan denied allegations from former wrestlers during his time as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University who accused him of knowing about claims they were inappropriately groped by an Ohio doctor. Jordan has said he was never aware of any abuse.
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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
