Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio failed to earn enough votes to become Speaker after 20 Republicans and every Democrat refused to vote for him, leaving the House in limbo as it remains unable to advance legislation since the ousting of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
After hard-right Republicans moved to oust McCarthy, GOP Majority Leader Steve Scalise bested Jordan in a Republican Conference-wide vote to earn the nomination. However, conservatives refused to provide their support, giving Jordan the opportunity to snag the nomination.
With the House closely split among 221 Republicans and 212 Democrats, Jordan could only lose five Republican votes as not one Democrat crossed the aisle to offer him support. This comes at a time when the U.S. faces pressure to support its allies at war, Israel and Ukraine.
Jordan, founding chair of the hard-right Freedom caucus and current chair of the Judiciary Committee, has been a thorn in the side of the Biden administration, serving as one of the GOP's impeachment inquiry leads. A prominent ally of former President Donald Trump, Jordan, who was elected in 2007, rose to prominence for his role in obstructing the efforts of GOP leadership.
"House Republicans have selected as their nominee to be the Speaker of the People's House, the chairman of the Chaos Caucus, a defender in a dangerous way, of dysfunction and an extremist extraordinaire," House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Friday following Jordan's nomination. "The House Republican civil war continues to rage on, miring the Congress in chaos, dysfunction and extremism."
The Republicans who declined to support Jordan included Representatives Don Bacon of Nebraska, Ken Buck of Colorado, Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, Anthony D'Esposito of New York, Mario Díaz-Balart, Jake Ellzey of Texas, Andrew Garbarino of New York, Carlos A. Giménez of Florida, Tony Gonzales of Texas, Kay Granger of Texas, John James of Michigan, Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, Jen Kiggans of Virginia, Nick LaLota of New York, Doug LaMalfa of California, Mike Lawler of New York, John Rutherford of Florida, Mike Simpson of Idaho, Victoria Spartz of Indiana, and Steve Womack of Arkansas.
Instead, they voted for McCarthy, Scalise, former New York GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, Congressman Mike Garcia of California, and Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Congressman Tom Cole of Oklahoma, and Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky. The final tally was 212 Democrats voting for Jeffries, 200 Republicans voting for Jordan, and 20 Republicans voting for other candidates.
Bacon, a prominent moderate and the first Republican to vote against Jordan (the votes are read in alphabetical order), explained his vote the day prior, telling reporters he did not want to
"We've had a minority of the majority dictate all of this, and it's unacceptable," he said. "As an American my main concern is we believe in the rule of law and fairness, and we had a small group of folks who broke our rules and got rid of Kevin and then a small group broke our rules and blocked Steve. Now they want us to follow the rules and support Jim."
Jordan said prior to the vote that he intended to run for a second round if he failed to garner enough support. In January, McCarthy ran for 15 rounds before securing the nomination. It's unclear how many rounds Jordan would endure before bowing out of the race.
Along with Scalise and Emmer of Minnesota in leadership as Majority Whip, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York serves as Republican Conference Chair, and Congressman Gary Palmer of Alabama serves as Republican Policy Committee Chair. Any of them could make their case for the speakership.
In the meantime, Patrick McHenry of North Carolina will continue in his role as Speaker pro tempore. The position is largely ceremonial, but the House could vote to provide him with additional powers if House Republicans cannot reach consensus on their next leader.
