Table Of Content
- Speaker pro tempore Patrick McHenry's powers could be expanded
- The House will vote again Thursday while some are working to empower the temporary speaker to move legislation
- How long has Jim Jordan been in Congress?
- Who voted against Jordan for speaker? Here are the holdouts
- GOP Rep. Cole nominates Jim Jordan for speaker in second ballot
But it was clear after the second ballot that there was no immediate end in sight to the stalemate that has left the House leaderless and in turmoil after two weeks of Republican infighting. This would almost certainly require the support of Democrats, some of whom seemed open to the idea. Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina became speaker pro tempore when Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the job over two weeks ago, under a process laid out in the House rules.
Speaker pro tempore Patrick McHenry's powers could be expanded
But Mr. McHenry is unelected and primarily in place to oversee the election of a new speaker, and his legislative powers are untested. A big bloc of Jordan hold-outs in the first round of voting are senior members of the Appropriations Committee, tasked with writing and passing the spending bills that fund the government. A New York Times analysis earlier this year showed that Jordan voted for spending bills just 16 percent of the time on average since 2011.
The House will vote again Thursday while some are working to empower the temporary speaker to move legislation
In the first round of voting Tuesday on the House floor, he lost 20 Republicans. Some mainstream Republicans are opposing Mr. Jordan because they differ with him on matters of policy, nowhere more sharply than on continuing to fund the war in Ukraine, which Mr. Jordan and his “America First” allies oppose. Many of them are also reluctant to reward what they see as bad behavior by the far-right lawmakers who forced former Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his post and touched off the current governing crisis. By Saturday — a day after Mr. Jordan secured his party’s nomination — right-wing activists appeared to have identified about a dozen holdouts against Mr. Jordan as top targets for their onslaught.
How long has Jim Jordan been in Congress?
Rep. Jim Jordan has lost the first ballot for speaker. Here's what's next - The Associated Press
Rep. Jim Jordan has lost the first ballot for speaker. Here's what's next.
Posted: Tue, 17 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
But House rules require that the speaker receive a majority of the votes cast, something neither Mr. Jeffries nor Mr. Jordan got in the first round of voting, because 20 Republicans voted for other candidates. Two other Republicans who voted for Mr. Jordan on Tuesday switched on Wednesday to supporting committee chairs. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, who spoke out against Mr. Jordan during a closed-door meeting of Republicans, cast her ballot for Representative Kay Granger of Texas, the Appropriations Committee chairwoman. Representative Pete Stauber of Minnesota voted for Representative Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee on which both men sit. Many House aides believe that Mr. McHenry’s power is strictly confined to presiding over the election of a new speaker, as he has been doing this week.
Key things to know about Jordan's failed House speaker vote on Tuesday — and what is expected to happen today
His powers under those rules are unclear and untested, but he has largely limited his actions to those needed to elect a new speaker. The magic number Republicans were looking for was 217, and despite a last-minute push by several allies of former President Donald Trump, the far-right Jordan failed to win over the majority of his caucus with 20 Republicans voting against him. The only congressman not present for the vote was Republican Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida, who is currently out of office for a funeral. The first order of House business as the 118th Congress convenes is the selection of a new speaker, but McCarthy is being stonewalled by a group of conservative hardliners.
Voting could last several rounds Wednesday or be postponed until another day if a speaker isn't elected during the second try. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., who initially supported Jordan on the first ballot, instead voted for Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., for speaker. The path forward for Jordan’s speakership bid is unclear but some of his most ardent supporters from the conference’s right flank have urged the Ohio Republican to stay in the race for as long as it takes. McHenry is serving his 10th term in Congress and represents the 10th congressional district in North Carolina. He is a McCarthy ally and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, where he advocates for conservative fiscal policies.
Republicans who opposed Jordan, then swung in line behind him.
Jordan could only afford to lose four Republicans and still prevail in the race, and all Democrats supported Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, of New York. House Republican support for providing weapons and money to help Ukraine beat back Russia’s invasion has been flagging under pressure from far-right Republicans like Mr. Jordan. They argue that sending aid to Kyiv siphons money away from domestic security challenges and could pitch the United States into a head-on conflict with Russia. Former President Donald J. Trump, who counts Mr. Jordan among his closest allies on Capitol Hill, popularized that isolationist argument with his “America First” approach to foreign policy, but until recently, most G.O.P. lawmakers had not embraced it. It is a strikingly different strategy from the one former Speaker Kevin McCarthy employed in January as he was toiling to lock down support from the hard right, which never quite trusted him. Back then, he made a litany of concessions demanded by the holdouts — some public, many private — including commitments that diminished the speaker’s power considerably and amplified the internal party divisions that ultimately teed up his ouster.
Who voted against Jordan for speaker? Here are the holdouts
“We have a chance today to end that chaos and to end that uncertainty,” Cole said. Illinois congressman Mike Kelly, whose throwaway vote for Mr Boehner prompted cheers on Wednesday, has submitted a proposal to name Mr McHenry as Speaker until 17 November or until a permanent choice is made. "It's just painfully obvious that what a lot of our people want to do we can't do," Steve Womack of Arkansas said. Colleagues cheered as Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, nominated Mr Jordan, whom he called an "honourable man" with "a spine of steel" who offered a way out of the House's "chaos and uncertainty".
GOP Rep. Cole nominates Jim Jordan for speaker in second ballot
On Tuesday, Democrats were united in voting for Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader. Representative Pete Aguilar of California, the No. 3 Democrat, nominated Mr. Jeffries with a blistering speech against Mr. Jordan. He accused the Ohio Republican of “inciting violence on this chamber,” a reference to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol — remarkably sharp language about another lawmaker seldom heard on the House floor and hardly ever during a nominating speech for speaker. Many of the Republicans who voted against Mr. Jordan vowed to stand strong in the face of the pressure, citing a variety of concerns. Some members of the Appropriations Committee, which writes the government spending bills, are deeply distrustful of Mr. Jordan’s approach to spending and the types of cuts he has endorsed. Others were Republicans from swing districts in which Mr. Trump’s brand is toxic.
Congress is operating under a temporary extension of last year’s spending bills, and has until a self-imposed Nov. 17 deadline to pass 12 new yearlong bills to fund the government through the rest of the year and into 2024. In the nearly two weeks since Congress cleared the extension, the battle over the speakership has consumed many legislative days that otherwise could have been spent working through those spending measures. Mr. McCarthy was unable to persuade Republicans to support a stopgap bill to avert a shutdown, and his decision to rely on Democratic votes to pass one cost him his job. There is a broad bipartisan consensus on the need to rush additional military support to Israel for its war against Hamas.
On the House floor, six of the holdouts, Reps. John Rutherford, R-Fla., Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., Anthony D'Esposito, R-N.Y., Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., and Don Bacon, R-Neb., are seated next to each other ahead of the second ballot. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., chair of the House Rules Committee, nominated Jordan for speaker. As House Republicans break to discuss next steps and wait for Jim Jordan's next move, lawmakers look like they're in for a long day on Capitol Hill. The group includes national security hawks who are deeply committed to continuing U.S. aid to Ukraine, something that Mr. Jordan has long opposed in line with the “America First” philosophy he shares with former President Donald J. Trump.
Stauber brings us to four lawmakers voting against Jordan on this ballot who didn’t on the first. Jordan has flipped one holdout so far, and we’re all waiting to see if Victoria Spartz of Indiana, who previously voted against Jordan, shows up to vote. Representative Victoria Spartz of Indiana told reporters she had been moved by the nominating speech by Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma, which cast Mr. Jordan as a fiscal hawk ready to right the country’s finances. A third option that was gaining steam Wednesday would involve empowering the temporary speaker to remain in the job and oversee House business until a new permanent speaker can be elected. Jordan's total was one fewer than the 200 he secured on the first ballot on Tuesday, a sign that he has struggled to make any inroads among the GOP holdouts.
GOP Rep. David Joyce said Wednesday that he will attempt to file a motion to elect McHenry as the permanent speaker pro tempore. Pelosi cited Banks and Jordan’s opposition to certifying the 2020 presidential election and their criticism of the select committee’s investigation in her decision, according to USA Today. Nonetheless, despite the failed first vote, there's still the possibility that this could last several more rounds like it did in January when it took McCarthy 15 ballots to eventually be elected speaker. The congresswoman announced earlier this year that she would not run for reelection in 2024. Indiana Republican Reps. Jim Banks, Erin Houchin and Rudy Yakym all expressed support for Jordan ahead of Tuesday’s vote with posts on X, formerly Twitter. Since McCarthy did not win a majority of those present and voting for a candidate in the initial round of voting, the House moved to a second ballot.
Dorn graduated in 2012 from the University of Dayton with a degree in journalism. Follow her for updates and analysis on the 2024 presidential race and key Senate and House races. “I am very proud, very proud to place a nomination, the name of our good friend, my good friend, our Republican candidate for speaker, the honorable Jim Jordan of Ohio,” Cole said. Many Republicans have expressed their desire to quickly pass an aid package for Israel amid its war with Hamas, but the House cannot do so until a new leader is elected. The House has been without a speaker since the historic ouster of the Republican Kevin McCarthy earlier this month. As long as the chair is vacant, the House is immobilized, unable to advance any legislation.
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