Republican Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan‘s failure to win election for Speaker Tuesday afternoon has thrown the House into greater chaos, with one news outlet reporting it “doesn’t look like” he will be able to pull it off if Wednesday morning’s 11 AM vote goes forward as scheduled.
“Jordan is probably done,” reports Punchbowl News Wednesday morning, adding it “doesn’t look like” the far-right Republican will get the Speaker’s gavel.
It could get worse for Jordan if he pushes through Wednesday’s slated vote.
“Jordan’s GOP opponents huddled after the House session Tuesday, and nearly all of them said they were holding firm against the Ohio Republican. Senior GOP lawmakers predicted that Jordan could lose an additional 10 or more Republicans today on the floor,” Punchbowl News reports, adding, “after speaking with dozens of members and aides, it doesn’t look to us like the Ohio Republican has any path to victory.”
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CNN’s Manu Raju reports a “GOP House member opposed to Jim Jordan told me opposition to his candidacy will grow, especially if it goes to a third round — potentially 25 Rs voting against him.”
“’The opposition is organized. We’re in tight comms, unified, and growing,’ the member said.”
It’s been two weeks and a day since U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) led the uprising that took down Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who
predicted on Tuesday Jordan would win the gavel on the first vote. The ex-Speaker has also continued to blame House Democrats, sometimes angrily, for his ouster, and for the “chaos” that has ensued.
So what’s next?
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) has been floated as the next possible Speaker candidate, but after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan both went down in flames after one vote, it’s unlikely that is the path most House Republicans will support.
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As Punbchbowl News explains, “frankly, if you’re Emmer, why get in a speaker race you are likely to lose with a conference this divided?”
Several lesser-known House Republicans names have been floating around as well, but “no Republican is getting 217 votes for speaker at this point. And why run for the mayor of a city that’s just been nuked?”
For the time being, it appears the next step may be a bipartisan vote to hand Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the Speakership on a temporary and limited base. McHenry was chosen by McCarthy, per House rules, to the role, which allows him only to make decisions to assist the House in electing a new Speaker.
“McHenry can be elected speaker pro tem for a limited period of time in order to help the House move past this current stalemate — provided he has Democratic support,” Punchbowl News adds.
House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries – who has the unanimous support of all 212 House Democrats and could become Speaker if just five Republicans threw their support to him, is not opposed to the possibility of a McHenry temporary and limited Speakership.
Punchbowl’s Max Cohen reports U.S. Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) “is expected to file a motion today to elect Patrick McHenry as a permanent speaker pro tem.”
Asked about empowering McHenry, Leader Jeffries told Cohen, “All options are on the table to end the Republican civil war.”
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