Rep. Jim Jordan, a conservative Republican from Ohio, is calling for a vote on whether he would succeed ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy and put an end to the House’s protracted gridlock due to intense GOP divides on Tuesday.

Two weeks after McCarthy’s historic ouster, Jordan gained crucial support from holdouts ahead of Tuesday’s vote, and his supporters are confident that the Ohio Republican can secure the 217 votes required to be elected speaker. But with several lawmakers still hostile, it’s unclear whether Jordan can lead the disjointed House Republican conference.

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Monday night, House Republicans convened for a conference meeting where Jordan heard objections and attempted to address them in try to win over support, according to lawmakers who were present.

For his mother-in-law’s burial on Tuesday, Florida Rep. Gus Bilirakis will be absent from the Capitol, further complicating the Ohio Republican’s vote calculations.

Instead of losing four votes, Jordan can now only lose three; however, this decrease is only temporary until the Florida congressman is reinstated. According to his office, Bilirakis will return to Washington Tuesday evening.

 

Republicans

However, more than a dozen Republicans who were entering and leaving the meeting declared that they still intended to vote against Jordan.

The ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and the refusal of some Republicans to unite behind Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) after he secured the party’s nomination for speaker still rankle some Republicans.

McCarthy was ousted by a group of eight GOP rebels because of the razor-thin margin; now, a tiny number of House Republicans opposed to Jordan might stop him from taking Jordan’s place.

But over the past few days, Jordan and his allies have made significant progress, with the Ohio Republican going one-on-one with skeptic lawmakers while his allies outside of Congress have attacked the holdouts and threatened political repercussions if they refuse to support a favorite of the Trump-aligned GOP base.

After leaving a GOP conference meeting behind closed doors on Monday, Jordan declared, “We need to get a speaker tomorrow.” “The American people deserve for their members in the House to be working in Congress. And until you have a speaker, that cannot occur.

Jordan’s supporters

Jordan’s supporters think that less than ten Republicans remain opposed to him, down from the 55 who voted against him on Friday. The remaining opponents, according to one GOP lawmaker, number no more than 10.

On Monday, a number of significant holdouts said that they would back Jordan, including Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner, who had earlier referred to Jordan as a “nonstarter.”

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York stated, “I feel like he can bring everyone together, from the moderates to the ultra conservatives, and Republicans across the spectrum.” The bottom line is that we must resume our work. There is no time to waste here.

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McCarthy’s six-week

With the possibility of a shutdown just a month away thanks to McCarthy’s six-week interim budget agreement that sparked the move against him, the House is unable to discuss legislation, such as passing further military aid to Israel or government funding, until it chooses a speaker.

Jordan has detractors who might publicly reject him, including GOP lawmakers still upset that a few Republicans forced out McCarthy and subsequently opposed the speaker nomination of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who initially defeated Jordan inside the GOP conference, 113 to 99.

Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska remarked, “I can’t get past the fact that a small group in our conference broke the rules to remove Kevin, and then blocked Steve.” “You don’t have a system where I follow the rules and these other people can’t, so they get what they want,” the speaker said. Not American, that. Rule of law and fair play are desired by Americans.

Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida declared he would keep standing beside Scalise in the chamber. He remarked on Monday: “You can remember we had an election; the guy who won was the guy I was with,” adding that any attempts to coerce him would be unsuccessful.

Several Republicans, including those from Joe Biden’s constituency, chose not to declare their support for Jordan on the floor on Monday evening.

Those who supported Jordan have asked the conference to unite behind him, even those who attacked McCarthy and disagreed with Scalise.

Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania claimed that while Jordan backed both McCarthy and Scalise, people who were upset shouldn’t vent their resentment on him.

“Feelings are hurt,” stated Perry. “However, Jim had nothing to do with that. Therefore, they must direct their anger, if you will, toward people who they believe deserve it, but Jim Jordan is definitely not one of them.

 

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