Good evening. We’ve gone two weeks without a House speaker, and round after round of Republican infighting has failed to yield a path out of chaos. Here’s the latest.
Jim Jordan Fails to Win Speaker’s Gavel in First Round; Second Vote Delayed
Conservative Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio fell well short Tuesday of the majority he needs in the vote for a new House speaker. Twenty Republicans refused to back him — a greater number than some vote-counters had expected — and, with more GOP members reportedly threatening to turn against him in the next round, Jordan was forced to delay a second vote until Wednesday.
As Jordan scrambled to salvage his bid for the gavel, he insisted to reporters that he wouldn’t give up.
“We're going to keep going, have great conversations, great discussions with our colleagues,” he said Tuesday evening. “And 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 vote.”
It remains unclear, though, whether Jordan can win over a significant number of holdouts, leaving the House of Representatives mired in chaos and unable to legislate.
What it means: The House has now been without a speaker for two full weeks since Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the job by a contingent of hard-right conservatives, leaving lawmakers unable to legislate.
Jordan’s history as a Trump-supporting, election-denying, ideological hardliner with no legislative success to speak of, combined with complaints from some Republicans about what they saw as his hardball tactics in the speaker’s race, have left him with significant opposition to overcome.
Washington Post congressional reporter Marianna Sotomayor notes that the opposition comes from two main blocs: moderates from New York and “appropriators, people who have for years taken the responsibility to fund the government.” Jordan, as a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, “has frequently sought to cut spending that even some of his colleagues consider necessary,” the Post reports.
What’s next: The House is expected to vote again Wednesday. If Jordan again fails, some lawmakers have said that they would be willing to expand the powers of Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, the North Carolina Republican and ally of former speaker Kevin McCarthy who was named to his post and thus has very limited powers at the moment.
Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania introduced a resolution Monday night to temporarily expand McHenry's powers until November 17 or until a new speaker is elected, whichever is earlier. That date, one month from today, is when current federal funding expires, meaning that the government would shut down in the absence of new spending legislation.
“By electing Representative McHenry as Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives, the House will be able to hold votes necessary to fund the government beyond the expiration of our current fiscal year,” Kelly wrote in a letter to colleagues. “Most importantly, and more broadly, we will be able to continue the work that the American people sent us here to do while we continue searching for a Speaker of the House.”
The bottom line: More turmoil ahead.
Biden Plans to Ask for $100 Billion in Emergency Funding: Report
President Joe Biden is reportedly considering asking Congress for about $100 billion in supplemental funding that would cover assistance to Israel and Ukraine and well as border security and aid to Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific nations, Bloomberg reports.
The details of the supplemental request are reportedly still being worked out, but the funding would reportedly cover an entire fiscal year, whereas a previous White House request for $40 billion, including $24 billion in aid for Ukraine, was meant to cover three months.
The inclusion of border funding in the new package is reportedly aimed at winning support from Republicans, many of whom oppose providing additional aid for Ukraine. “The sheer scope and ask of the package is likely to invite resistance in the House,” Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs, Roxana Tiron and Zach C. Cohen note.
Any additional spending package depends on the House picking a new speaker or empowering Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry.
US Gets C+ for Its Retirement System
With a mix of mandatory public and private pension programs, the Netherlands has the world’s best retirement system, according to a new ranking from the consulting firm Mercer. The European nation earned top marks among the 47 retirement systems included in the annual survey, sharing an “A” grade with Iceland, Denmark and Israel, each of which provides a “first-class and robust retirement income system that delivers good benefits, is sustainable and has a high level of integrity.”
The U.S., on the other hand, is nowhere near the top, ranking 22nd, with a grade of just C+. The U.S. earns middling marks on the three components of the index, which weighs the adequacy, sustainability and integrity of each nation’s system. While many white-collar workers in the U.S. have access to sufficient retirement resources through Social Security and 401(k) plans, millions of gig and blue-collar workers face significant shortfalls and limited options.
Still, there are worse systems. Argentina ranked last, due to its limited public pension system and a private system that is entirely voluntary. Other bottom-tier retirement setups include those run by India, Turkey and Thailand.
Overall, most national retirement systems — which typically provide a mix of private and public resources — are under pressure around the world due to inflation, higher interest rates, rising debt levels and geopolitical instability. That means that millions of workers will have to rely on their own resources when they are older, continuing a trend that has been developing for decades.
“The bottom line is around the world, people have to start looking after themselves in retirement,” David Knox, the report’s lead author, told Bloomberg. “We can no longer just rely on social security or public pensions.”
The complete Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index is available for download here.
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Fiscal News Roundup
- Republicans Reject Rep. Jim Jordan for House Speaker on a First Ballot, Signaling More Turmoil Ahead – Associated Press
- Jordan Hustles to Avoid Losing Ground in Speaker Mess — and Turns to Scalise – Politico
- Here Are the 20 Republicans Who Opposed Jordan – New York Times
- In a Chaotic House, the Next Speaker Must Unite These Three Factions – Wall Street Journal
- There’s Still No House Speaker. What Happens Now? – New York Times
- Jordan’s Floor Failure Strengthens Private Push to Empower McHenry – Politico
- Biden Plans to Ask Congress for $100 Billion in Ukraine, Israel Aid – Bloomberg
- Middle East War Adds to Surge in International Arms Sales – New York Times
- The U.S. Gets a C+ in Retirement – Wall Street Journal
- IRS to Offer a New Option to File Your Tax Return – Washington Post
- A Recession Is No Longer the Consensus – Wall Street Journal
Views and Analysis
- Why Jim Jordan’s Speaker Bid Failed — for Now – Philip Bump, Washington Post
- Jim Jordan Is Hard-Right. But He’s Also in Sync With the GOP Base – Aaron Blake, Washington Post
- Jordan’s Allies May Be Overestimating His Popularity – Philip Bump, Washington Post
- Jim Jordan’s Remarkably Thin Legislative Track Record – Aaron Blake, Washington Post
- Jim Jordan Didn’t Just Lose. The Hard Right Did Too – Ben Jacobs, New York
- The Apotheosis of Jim Jordan Is a Sight to Behold – Jamelle Bouie, New York Times
- ‘Everything Is Just Stuck.’ No Matter What Happens to Jim Jordan, the Next Speaker Is In For a World of Trouble – Ian Ward, Politico
- The Subtle Privatization of Medicare – Dylan Scott, Vox
- Five Reforms to Reorient SNAP Toward Nutrition and Health – Leana S. Wen, Washington Post
- The U.S. Government's Interest Bill Is Skyrocketing – Neil Irwin, Axios