'Everybody's pretty frustrated': Wisconsin's GOP delegation accepts return to square one in speaker search

WASHINGTON – A deeply divided House Republican conference returned to square one in its struggle to find a leader Friday afternoon after Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan withdrew from the speaker's race, having failed for over a week to pull his party together.

Jordan's decision to step aside followed a secret ballot vote from the conference in which a majority of his conference indicated he should be removed as speaker-designee. Earlier in the day, Jordan fell short in his third attempt to win the job on the House floor — publicly losing the support of 25 of his Republican colleagues.

"I think everybody's pretty frustrated," Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as he left the closed-door vote Friday afternoon. "I think what it really shows is the error in judgement of the eight Republicans" who with Democrats successfully moved to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy from the post on Oct. 3.

"They moved forward with no plan in a period of time (of) significant national and international issues," Steil said. House Republicans were scheduled to reconvene Monday evening to restart the nominating process for speaker.

Friday's developments mean the House will remain leaderless for at least three more days as a bitterly-divided House Republican conference has been unable to come to a consensus on who should lead Congress' lower chamber. The day's events prolong a two-week period in which the House has been unable to move legislation while wars rage in both Israel and Ukraine and Congress stares down a Nov. 17 government funding deadline.

Wisconsin's Republicans have largely remained united behind their party's speaker nominee — first Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and then Jordan — throughout the month. But some members began to question their conference's path forward this week as Jordan continued to lose support on the House floor.

"I don't think we really have a choice," Wisconsin Rep. Glenn Grothman told the Journal Sentinel when asked about starting the effort to pick a leader from square one. "I like Jim, but he was losing votes every time. And I think people felt collectively that if he took more votes, he'd keep losing votes.''

Earlier in the day, Grothman told the Journal Sentinel he thought the conference was soon "going to have to look for someone else." Those words came true an hour later.

In the minutes after Jordan's withdrawal, a number of Republicans were mentioned as potential new nominees. Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern announced he will run for the post, and others like Minnesota's Tom Emmer, Michigan's Jack Bergman, Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Austin Scott of Georgia, who ran against Jordan, also showed interest.

Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher's name had been floated by some Republicans as a potential consensus candidate. But Gallagher told the Journal Sentinel he was not interested in the position. “It’s not something I’m pursuing," Gallagher said. "I have the job I want.”

On Thursday, Gallagher said Republicans would need to "go back to the drawing board" if Jordan lost his third floor vote, as he did Friday. He declined to answer questions as he walked out of the GOP conference meeting shortly after Jordan's withdrawal.

With the House recessing for the weekend, the conference appears farther than ever from electing a leader.

Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who had said he'd vote for Jordan "no matter how many votes it takes," left the conference meeting Friday saying Republicans are going to try to find a speaker next week. "It is what it is," he said.

"What most of America doesn't know — Jim Jordan is a first class person and he's doing what he believes is the best for our conference but more importantly for our country," Tiffany said. "So we move on."

While all six Wisconsin Republicans backed Jordan in his bid for speaker, only five were present to support him during his third vote on the floor.

Freshman Rep. Derrick Van Orden left Capitol Hill for Israel Thursday evening for what he described as a fact-finding mission — leaving Jordan with an even slimmer margin of error in his quest to win the necessary House majority to assume the speakership. His absence Friday, however, was insignificant as Jordan came nowhere near clinching the job.

Van Orden could miss subsequent speaker votes next week.

Asked who he would like to see step forward in the speaker race next week, Steil declined to name names but rather repeated a line he's uttered frequently over the past two weeks: "Somebody that could unify the conference."

But just who that is could be another point of contention.

Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, a strong Jordan supporter, told the Journal Sentinel he was "disappointed" with his conference's decision to remove Jordan as speaker-designee.

"I think he is the best person to unite the conference," Fitzgerald said. "We'll see what next week brings."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin GOP delegation accepts return to square one in speaker vote