Why Jordan failed to win speakership in first round, losing 20 Republicans
As reporters chased Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, down a hallway shortly before Tuesday’s vote, he declared himself “confident” of winning the speaker’s job.
His confidence wasn’t enough. With 20 Republicans voting for others – even though Jordan’s opponents couldn’t find a protest candidate to run – he lost the first round.
It was quite a feat for the Judiciary Committee chairman to lose by that margin – he could only afford four defectors – since he’d only gotten 124 votes in the GOP’s secret ballot, far short of the magic number of 217. Since a few of the converts had vowed to never, ever back Jordan, that highlighted his skill at winning over members.
More horse-trading must now be under way. The onetime wrestling coach would have to flip 16 of the 20 no votes against him, which seems a tall order. McCarthy, who was ousted in less than nine months, lost only eight Republicans.
Read more from Fox News’ Howard Kurtz
Rep. Gimenez says he is supportive of effort to empower McHenry
The idea of temporarily expanding the powers of interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., is now also gaining steam among lawmakers who voted against House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., who has said he will keep voting for McCarthy on the House floor, told Fox News Digital that he was supportive of the effort.
“If we don’t get to a speaker in a day or two, I think we need to move forward in getting the House back in business, and so any resolution that would give McHenry more power to do that…I would be in favor of,” he said.
McHenry was chosen by ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to serve as speaker pro tempore if he were ever ousted, which he was earlier this month in a House majority vote by eight Republicans and all Democrats.
Twenty Republicans voted for someone other than Jordan, a tally that caught allies who expected a closer finish by surprise. Before that, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., had clinched the GOP nomination for speaker before stepping back from the race the next day over mounting public opposition.
Push to empower interim Speaker McHenry picks up steam as Jordan momentum stalls
A key moderate Republican leader is looking to introduce a resolution on Wednesday temporarily expanding the powers of interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., after two weeks of gridlock without a leader.
McHenry was chosen by ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to serve as speaker pro tempore if he were ever ousted, which he was earlier this month in a House majority vote by eight Republicans and all Democrats.
Now, Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Pa., chairman of the Republican Governance Group, is calling to flesh out McHenry’s role in leadership, particularly in light of the urgency for Congress to approve aid for Israel as it fights a bloody war with terror group Hamas.
A source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that Joyce hopes to introduce a resolution to do so Wednesday.
It comes after Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, fell 17 votes short of the 217 he needed to win the speaker’s gavel on Tuesday.
Twenty Republicans voted for someone other than Jordan, a tally that caught allies who expected a closer finish by surprise. Before that, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., had clinched the GOP nomination for speaker before stepping back from the race the next day over mounting public opposition.
Joyce had been one of the 200 Republicans who cast his vote for Jordan on Tuesday.
He told Fox News Digital on Wednesday morning, “After two weeks without a Speaker of the House and no clear candidate with 217 votes in the Republican conference, it is time to look at other viable options. By empowering Patrick McHenry as Speaker Pro Tempore we can take care of our ally Israel until a new Speaker is elected.”
House expected to hold vote later this morning, path for Jordan unclear
The House of Representatives is expected to hold a second vote later today to elect a House speaker, but it remains unclear how GOP nominee Jim Jordan will fare.
The House will meet at 11am, to be followed by a live quorum call to take attendance and the nominating speeches — meaning there vote not be an actual vote until later in the 11am hour or noon.
Republicans nominated House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, who lost in the first round after 20 Republican members voted for other candidates. Jordan can lose only four Republicans, if no Democrats vote for him.
He is expected to pick up support today in Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., who returns after being absent yesterday.
However, he could also lose the support of other members, as some believe he had his chance yesterday. They also note that the vote was one more opportunity than was given to Majority Leader Steve Scalise — who was the previous nominee but withdrew after failing to drum up enough support to win a floor vote.
Jordan will need to show some improvement today, or his bid could suffer further defections to other candidates. If he gains votes however, his supporters will say he has traction and there should be a third vote.
There is also increasing chatter about the House adopting a resolution to empower Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., as acting Speaker.
Lawmakers are jittery about the House now being in a legislative stasis for more than two weeks as the Middle East burns and a government shutdown looms next month.
Rep. Chip Roy vows to stick with Jim Jordan ‘for as long as it takes’
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, says he is sticking with Rep. Jim Jordan’s effort become Speaker of the House for “as long as it takes.”
Roy made the vow during an appearance on Fox News late Tuesday night. Jordan failed to secure the necessary votes to become speaker on Tuesday. He faces a second attempt later Wednesday morning.
“I’m going to stick with Jim for as long as it takes. I’m not going anywhere,” Roy said. “My message to my colleagues is: We’re going to change this town.”
Roy pointed out that Jordan received 200 votes in his first ballot, which he said is “relatively similar” to McCarthy’s first showing early this year.
“I’m going to stick with Jim until he decides what he needs to do,” Roy finished.
Judge Jeanine: This House speaker fight is ‘petty nonsense’
Republican in-fighting over who will succeed Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has devolved into “petty nonsense,” Judge Jeanine Pirro said late Tuesday.
Pirro added that she is furious with the eight Republicans who voted with Democrats to oust McCarthy from his speakership on October 3.
“I’m so angry that we’re in this situation,” she said, exasperated. “Jim Jordan is great, [Steve] Scalise is great, McCarthy was great. I don’t–It’s petty nonsense.”
Scalise has already withdrawn his candidacy for Speaker, and Jordan will make his second attempt at a vote later Wednesday morning.
Wall Street Journal blasts Republican disfunction as Jordan founders: ‘Nobody for Speaker’
The Wall Street Journal editorial board offered a scathing rebuke of the disfunction among House Republicans late Tuesday after Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan failed to secure enough votes to become Speaker.
The board’s comment comes after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., withdrew his candidacy after Jordan’s allies strongarmed him last week.
“With each turn of the screw, the eight Republicans who deposed Mr. McCarthy look more foolish all the time. They didn’t have a plan for what to do next. They didn’t have an alternative candidate for Speaker. What kind of an idiot mutineer takes over the man-of-war, tosses the captain overboard, and then spends two weeks pulling ropes at random, hoping like hell that the thing will somehow drift ashore before the supplies run out?” WSJ wrote.
“The people’s House always includes some unserious characters, but now it has serious work to do,” it added.
The group went on to float the idea of empowering Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry’s authorities to allow him to pursue a “limited” agenda.
Congress has remained paralyzed over the speaker fight since October 3.
Jordan gears up for second round speaker vote with uncertain path forward: ‘We’re gonna keep going’
Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is gearing up for another vote in his bid to become speaker later on Wednesday morning.
Jordan, the second GOP nominee to fill the role this month, fell 17 votes short of the 217 he needed to win Tuesday afternoon.
“We’re gonna keep going. I’ve had great conversations, great discussions with our colleagues,” Jordan said late Tuesday. “No one in our conference wants to see any type of coalition government with Democrats. So we’re going to keep working, and we’re going to get to the votes.”
The House is now returning at 11 a.m. ET for the next planned vote, but even many lawmakers are at a loss about what comes now.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital on Tuesday evening that anyone who claims to know what will happen next “is full of it.”
Malliotakis, who voted for Jordan, said she intends to keep doing so — and predicted that his support would grow.
“I think there’s some movement, and that’s positive. So the idea is to build consensus, that’s positive, not to jump ship just because it didn’t work in the first round,” she said. “As I see it, he’s the person who can bring the factions together now. If he can’t, quite frankly, then we have bigger problems.”
Jordan faces opposition in other GOP camps, however.
Jordan calls for GOP unity following failed House speaker vote
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is calling for unity among House Republicans just hours after a number of party members tanked the chamber’s first vote on a new speaker.
“We must stop attacking each other and come together. There’s too much at stake. Let’s get back to working on the crisis at the southern border, inflation, and helping Israel,” Jordan wrote in a post on X.
Jordan won the support of 200 Republicans in Tuesday’s sole vote while 20 split their support between a number of others. All 212 Democrats voted for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
217 voters were needed to win the speaker’s gavel.
The House is expected to reconvene at 11:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
Jeffries blasts Jordan as ‘poster child of MAGA extremism’ after failed speaker vote
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., railed against the GOP nominee for House speaker following a failed vote to fill the role Tuesday.
Jeffries spoke to reporters outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C, following House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan’s attempt to gather enough votes on the House floor to win the speakership.
Jeffries blasted Jordan, R-Ohio, after his first speaker vote failed with 20 Republican votes against him, saying the GOP speaker nominee is the “poster child of MAGA extremism” and “not one” of the respected Republicans among the House Democrats.
During the gaggle, Jeffries said that “informal talks” are ongoing with some Republicans, but would not elaborate.
“My hope, now that it’s clear Jim Jordan lacks the votes to be speaker, is that those conversations will accelerate this evening,” Jeffries said.
Jeffries also said that “House Democrats have made it clear” they are “ready, willing, and able to find bipartisan common ground on any issue in order to make a difference in the lives of everyday Americans.”
Possible ‘disturbance’ triggers ‘increased security posture’ at Capitol ahead of House speaker votes
The House Sergeant at Arms has warned members of Congress and their staffs of the “potential for civil disturbance” on Wednesday when the chamber is scheduled to continue the process of selecting a new speaker.
An email from the Sergeant at Arms’ office said law enforcement were monitoring “the intelligence regarding the conflict overseas,” and that “the potential for demonstration activity” at the Capitol was grounds for personnel to use underground tunnels to traverse between buildings.
The email added that the Capitol Square would be limited to members, staff and those with official business.
Protests called “Stop the Gaza Genocide,” organized by the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, are scheduled to take place across the country on Wednesday, including in Washington, D.C.
Jim Jordan: No more speaker votes tonight
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told reporters Tuesday afternoon there would be no more votes on the next Speaker of the House for the remainder of the day.
The House is expected to reconvene Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. ET and proceed to a recorded vote on the quorum call.
Following nominating speeches, the House will then proceed to a second ballot.
Rep. Chip Roy: Republican holdouts ‘moving in the right direction’ on supporting Jim Jordan
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, suggested Tuesday afternoon that at least one of the 20 Republicans who did not vote for Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, for speaker would back him on the second round.
“One of these 20 – I won’t say who yet, I’m not sure if it’s public – has said that they’ll vote for Jim next time,” Roy said on Sean Hannity’s radio show after the first vote.
“I think there’s a couple more that are getting, you know, moving in the right direction.”
Roy speculated that the second House-wide vote could likely come this evening, around 6 p.m. ET.
Jordan has already told reporters he plans to hold another round after falling short of the 217 votes needed to win the speaker’s gavel earlier on Tuesday.
Jordan won the support of 200 Republicans in the first round, while all 212 House Democrats voted for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
Jordan eyeing another vote on House floor today: ‘That’s the plan’
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan says the plan is to get back to the House floor for another round of voting to elect the next House speaker, after an unsuccessful first round of voting this afternoon.
“We need to get a speaker as soon as possible to get back to work for the American people,” Jordan, the Republican candidate to take the gavel, said.
Jordan lost the first speakership vote in the House, with a significant number of Republicans voting for other candidates.
Jordan only picked up 200 votes, far short of the 217 he needed to secure the speaker’s gavel. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was the top vote-getter with 212, with all Democrats voting for him.
The House went into recess and it was not clear if there was going to be another vote today. But Jordan was asked if lawmakers were going back to the House floor later today.
“That’s the plan. That’s the plan,” he said.
DNC takes victory lap after Jordan falls short in first speaker’s vote
The Democratic National Committee is taking a victory lap after Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, fell 17 votes short of what he needed to win the speaker’s gavel.
The DNC headlines its memo, “DNC Statement on Republicans Failing to Elect a Speaker (Again)”
“We’re on day 14 without a speaker of the House, one month out from another potential Republican shutdown, and chaos reigns over the House GOP,” the statement read.
“Americans across the country and our allies abroad are watching as the Chaos Caucus makes a mockery of our institutions – and continues to prove they’re incapable of governing. Serious times demand serious leadership, not the GOP’s MAGA clown show with Trump as its ringleader.”
Jordan won 200 House Republican votes, while all 212 Democrats voted for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
