Republican lawmakers on Friday voted to make Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio their latest nominee to be the next speaker of the House, but — yes, you’ve heard this before — it remains unclear whether Jordan can get the floor votes he’d need to win the gavel.
Jordan, a hard-right firebrand who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, withstood a surprising challenge from Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, who is an ally of ousted former speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Jordan reportedly won the first round of GOP balloting by a vote of 124 to 81. He then moved somewhat closer to the total he’ll need in a second round of secret balloting to see if members would support him on the floor. The tally in that vote was 152-55.
Jordan will reportedly spend the weekend in private talks with members to see if he can convince holdouts to back him and get to the magic number of 217. But the Friday vote totals illustrate the ongoing divisions within the House Republican conference. Jordan, who was endorsed by former president Donald Trump, had lost an earlier vote for the Republican Party’s speaker nomination to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and then backed Scalise for the job. But it quickly became apparent that Scalise did not have — and could not win — the support he would need.
Now Jordan, the combative cofounder of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, faces a similar math problem, with continued opposition to his bid from more moderate Republicans leaving doubt about whether the new nominee can unite his conference.
The bottom line: The House still doesn’t have a speaker. The GOP drama will drag into next week at least — and potentially much longer — leaving legislative work such as action on the war in Israel and movement toward funding the government in limbo. If Jordan can’t get win the gavel, Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, chair of the Republican Study Committee, and Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a member of House GOP leadership, are reportedly considered potential candidates.
