Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) recently announced his intention to continue running for House speaker after previously supporting Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) as temporary speaker.
The Ohio lawmaker told reporters that House Republicans will keep debating who should become the conference’s speaker up until Oct. 22, 2023.
“Our plan this weekend is to get a speaker elected to the House of Representatives as soon as possible so we can help the American people,” he said.
“I got 200 votes, the speaker designee, from my colleagues,” Jordan added, justifying his choice to continue running for House speaker. “The sooner we can get this accomplished, the better for the American people who expect us to work for them and for our friends and allies.”
Notably, Jordan’s nomination for speaker has been voted on three times on the House floor. As of Oct. 20, 2023, 24 Republicans voted against Jordan for speaker, instead choosing other individuals such as former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).
Interestingly, both McCarthy and Scalise have noted for Jordan each time a vote was held on the house floor for the next speaker of the House.
One of the squishy Republicans who refused to vote for Jordan, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), previously told Politico, “I think he’s probably going to lose a handful more votes.”
At the same time, one of Jordan’s supporters left for Israel and was not present on the House floor to vote for the Ohio congressman, as reported by the Washington Examiner.
Since Jordan has lost three separate floor votes for speaker, House Republicans have dropped the conservative firebrand as their nominee.
Jordan Ousted as Speaker Nominee After 3 Failed Voteshttps://t.co/LaXq1oFLoj
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) October 20, 2023
After the third vote took place, House Republicans held a closed-door vote on whether Jordan should remain the speaker nominee of their party. In a vote of 86-112, Jordan’s nomination was ultimately struck down, as reported by Yahoo News.
“Unfortunately, Jim is no longer going to be the nominee,” McCarthy told reporters. “We will have to go back to the drawing board.”
“Jim is a good man. But you know, when the votes aren’t there, the votes aren’t there,” Rep. Greg Murphy, a Jordan supporter, told Reuters.
House Republicans will now head back to the drawing board on Oct. 23, 2023, to choose a new nominee for speaker of the House.
