The House rejected a new speaker. Here’s how lawmakers from Kansas and Missouri voted

Missouri and Kansas lawmakers were split as the House failed to elect Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, as speaker, in a House vote Tuesday, prolonging a historic period of uncertainty in Congress after a group of hard-line Republicans led an effort to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier this month.

House Republicans last week settled on Jordan, a favorite of hard-line conservatives, shortly after Rep. Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, failed to rally enough support from Republican members. All of the Republicans from Missouri and Kansas supported Jordan on Tuesday.

Jordan spent the weekend attempting to convince holdouts – like Rep. Ann Wagner, a St. Louis County Republican – to vote for him, giving them assurances about his willingness to craft a deal to keep the government open when funding expires next month.

Wagner – after meeting with Jordan and receiving pressure from conservatives – said Jordan had won her support.

“Too much is at stake to hand control of the House over to radical liberal Democrats, which is why we must elect a conservative as the next Speaker,” Wagner said in a written statement. “Throughout my time in Congress, I have always been a team player and supported our Republican nominees out of Conference.”

But while he whittled away some of the opposition, 20 Republicans still withheld their support.

Jordan rose from controversial co-founder of the hard-line Freedom Caucus to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. He has sponsored a national ban for abortion, voted against disaster aid and against the temporary deal to prevent a government shutdown this year.

He is also one of President Donald Trump’s top allies in the House. He supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Now the conservative hard-liner will have to find a way forward in a divided Congress, with a looming government shutdown and conflicting opinions over financial support for Ukraine and Israel. He will be forced to work with Democrats, who control both the White House and the Senate, while trying to appease some of the conservative hard-liners he helped mentor.

Democrats on Tuesday criticized Republicans for nominating Jordan, noting former Speaker John Boehner once called Jordan a “legislative terrorist” because of his willingness to try to block legislation to secure more conservative results.

“This body is debating elevating a speaker nominee who has not passed a single bill in 16 years,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar, a California Democrat.

The vote capped an extraordinary two weeks of chaos in the House after the vote toppling McCarthy. Republicans, riven by disunity, have appeared unable to unify around a single candidate for speaker.

Several Missouri Republicans, along with Wagner, originally backed Scalise, including Rep. Mark Alford, who represents the area south and east of Kansas City.

Here’s how the representatives from Kansas and Missouri voted. The Democrats nominated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, from New York, and the Republicans nominated Jordan, from Ohio.

Kansas

Rep. Sharice Davids (D) — Jeffries

Rep. Ron Estes (R) — Jordan

Rep. Jake LaTurner (R) — Jordan

Rep. Tracey Mann (R) — Jordan

Missouri

Rep. Mark Alford (R) — Jordan

Rep. Eric Burlison (R) — Jordan

Rep. Cori Bush (D) — Jeffries

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D) — Jeffries

Rep. Sam Graves (R) — Jordan

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R) — Jordan

Rep. Jason Smith (R) — Jordan

Rep. Ann Wagner (R) — Jordan