Things are evolving very quickly regarding the House Speaker election this week.
On Thursday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) canceled the third vote and said he had planned to back the Speaker Pro Tem to have extended powers until January.
On Friday morning, that all changed.
Jordan seemed adamant on Thursday that elections for Speaker were pretty much done until January.
He wanted to focus on extending powers for the Speaker Pro Tem so the House could pass legislation. While he stated he was not dropping out of the race, he said he wanted to take time to gather more support behind his campaign.
That all changed on Friday morning, as reports started to erupt very early that Jordan would hold another vote.
Prior to the third vote taking place, Jordan seemed intent on holding votes throughout the weekend until he won the gavel.
Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) confirmed this, posting on X, "We've heard from our colleagues and the American people. Additional votes are expected through the weekend."
Jordan reportedly met with the opposition on Thursday night, but their mood and stance were unchanged after the meeting.
Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL) stated:
"Not trying to change our minds, trying to change his mind. Our mind is set."
The race for Speaker has been a complete and utter mess for the GOP.
After winning the House, it took several days and more than a dozen votes for Rep. McCarthy (R-CA) to win the gavel, and he had to make significant concessions to do it.
When Rep. Scalise (R-LA) and Jordan were identified as the possible candidates to replace him, I was confident either of them would be confirmed, but MAGA supporters who were in favor of Jordan refused to budge when Scalise won the nomination.
He dropped out, Jordan won the next nomination, and now we are in tit-for-tat politics within the party.
I have read more than a dozen interviews with opposition for Jordan, and it seems pretty clear to me that he has no path to 217, so I don't know why they are doing this.
This is embarrassing, to say the least.
We have the majority, and our representatives in Congress are clearly fractured, unable to get on the same page.
I don't see how Jordan can possibly get to 217 at this point, as his opposition, and it is significant, is dug in.
The problem, however, is that if Jordan leaves the race, the MAGA contingent will elect another MAGA representative. The moderates and establishment will oppose that person, and we will be right back to where we are now.
It will be up to leadership in each faction to sit down with its members to identify a member that everyone can agree on so we can move forward.
Their pride is getting in the way of the party's future success, and this standoff will undoubtedly impact the 2024 election.
People vote for people who can govern, and this class of representatives seems to be more interested in puffing out its chest and thumping it rather than representing its constituents.
Two words describe this… petulant children.
Please, for the good of the party and the country, put your differences aside and get this done.
UPDATE: At approximately 11:00 a.m. EDT, the House started a third vote, and Jordan failed again. The vote tally was as follows:
Hakeem Jeffries – 210
Jim Jordan – 194
Kevin McCarthy – 2
Steve Scalise – 8
Lee Zeldin – 4
Patrick McHenry – 6
Byron Donalds – 2
Tom Emmer – 1
Bruce Westerman – 1
Mike Garcia – 1
This is now officially a complete and utter embarrassment for both Republicans and Jim Jordan, as he has lost even more support, dropping all the way down to 194, five fewer votes than he had last time.
Hopefully, Jordan does not move forward with any more votes on the weekend and instead concentrates on identifying a candidate that the entire caucus can get behind.
