WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is in session for a second round of balloting for speaker on Wednesday morning as Jim Jordan fights to win over his many holdouts for the job to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy.
Jordan lost 20 Republican votes Tuesday and pleaded afterward with his colleagues to “stop attacking each other and come together.”
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Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar says in nominating Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries for House speaker that Jeffries received more votes than Jordan the previous day.
“15 days should be enough,” Aguilar said, referring to the time the House has been paralyzed from acting on legislation after McCarthy was ousted.
Aguilar also gave the nominating speech for Jeffries ahead of the first round of voting. He said the 212 votes that Jeffries won to Jordan’ 200 speaks for itself.
He says, “No amount of election denial can deny that.”
Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican who chairs the powerful Rules Committee, is delivering Jordan’s nomination speech as he tries for a second time to win support on the House floor.
He opened by referencing the floor debate during former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster and referring to the “state of chaos” in the House.
He made a practical argument that Republicans can end that by electing Jordan for speaker.
Cole said a speaker needs a spine of steel, and he said Jordan has that.
Jordan can lose up to four Republican votes on Wednesday’s vote and still become speaker.
But it will be a slog to get there. He lost 20 GOP votes in the first round of voting Tuesday.
To be elected speaker, a member must win more than half the votes in the chamber. The typically 435-member House currently has two vacancies, and one Democrat wasn’t present for Wednesday’s vote, so Jordan would need 217 to win.
On Tuesday’s first ballot, Jordan only managed to win 200 votes. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries won 212, still short of the number needed.
A supporter of Jordan’s from the first round of voting for House speaker says he intends to back the Ohio congressman in the second round but not necessarily in the third round.
Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro of New York said shortly before Wednesday’s vote that he may change his vote on a third ballot, if there is one.
Molinaro was among 200 Republicans who backed Jordan in the first round, but Jordan still came up short, with 20 GOP defections. With Republicans holding such a narrow majority in the chamber, Jordan can only afford to lose a few votes and still be elected speaker.
A first-term New York Republican who voted against Jordan for speaker in the first round says he won’t support him in the second round, either.
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito voted for former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York on Tuesday. He said while walking into Wednesday’s vote that he still won’t vote for Jordan.
D’Esposito was among 20 Republican holdouts for Jordan on Tuesday. Another defector says he anticipates that Jordan will lose even more votes on Wednesday as the Republican conference struggles to coalesce around a replacement for Kevin McCarthy two weeks after ousting him.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, the speaker pro tem, walked on to the House floor and dismissed questions about a resolution that would give him more powers as the conference struggles to elect a speaker.
“I’m going to the floor to support Jim Jordan,” the North Carolina Republican said ahead of Wednesday’s vote.
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 Kevin McCarthy two weeks ago, and the lawmakers are in rarely tested terrain.
McHenry was named to the role of speaker pro tempore by McCarthy as part of a process established in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Never before used, the system was designed as a way to keep Congress functioning if leaders and lawmakers were killed or incapacitated. When he became speaker, McCarthy drafted a list of who should succeed him should something happen — and McHenry’s name was at the very top.
Jordan may be struggling to get the backing of his fellow House Republicans, but he seems to maintain the unwavering support of his constituents back in Ohio.
Jordan is a hometown boy whose Ohio State University wrestling coach title, conservative policies and never-say-die persona on Capitol Hill have earned him more devotion in his heavily gerrymandered district than he’s currently receiving in Congress.
“He says what he believes in because he’s there for the people,” said Betty Lemmon, a 77-year-old Republican from Champaign County.
Cynthia Leach, a Republican store owner in Urbana’s Monument Square, called Jordan “not easily persuaded” and “forceful” — qualities she admires in a leader.
JD Knopp, an 18-year-old from Mechanicsburg, is proud to be represented by Jordan and thinks he’ll make a great leader for a divided Republican Party. He likes that Jordan puts other politicians “in their place” and his “drain the swamp” mentality.
Jordan’s supporters are seeking to manage expectations ahead of the second round of balloting for House speaker.
Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania posted on social media that the election is a fight to end the status quo, “and it ain’t easy.” He urged Jordan’s backers to “stay strong and keep praying.”
Perry made the post before the House gaveled into session Wednesday. The chamber has been without a permanent speaker since Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the top job two weeks ago.
Jordan lost 20 votes on Tuesday, and one key Republican holdout is predicting even more defections Wednesday.
Jordan says the House should vote on a resolution that some centrist Republicans are pushing that would give the speaker pro tempore more power if they can’t agree on a permanent speaker.
“Let’s get an answer. We’ve been at this for two weeks,” Jordan told reporters just minutes before the House was gaveled into session for a second round of voting for speaker Wednesday. “The American people deserve to have their government functioning.”
Jordan is hoping to win the speaker’s gavel on the second ballot, but it’s looking increasingly unlikely. One holdout from Tuesday’s first round of voting is predicting Jordan will lose even more votes Wednesday.
A key holdout to Jim Jordan’s bid for House speaker says he thinks Jordan will lose more votes on the second round of balloting.
Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida said before Wednesday’s vote that he thinks the path will grow even more difficult for Jordan. The Florida congressman was among 20 Republicans who voted against Jordan in the first round.
Diaz-Balart also said that the strategy of trying to pressure Republicans into supporting Jordan is backfiring. He says honorable, dignified members of Congress oppose Jordan and threatening them will only make it worse.
When asked about whether he had personally received threats because of his opposition to Jordan, he declined to provide specifics, saying, “I keep my private stuff private.”
More generally, he said, “the nanosecond that anybody thinks they can intimidate me or threaten me is the day that I shut down.”
Bipartisan groups of lawmakers have been floating ways to operate the House by giving greater power to the interim speaker, Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, or another temporary speaker. The House had never ousted its speaker before Kevin McCarthy, and the lawmakers are in rarely tested terrain.
Two former Republican House speakers, Newt Gingrich and John Boehner, have come out in support of the idea.
Gingrich said that 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 on social media, adding, “I agree.”
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.