Jim Jordan House speaker vote back on after new GOP rejection: Live

Rep Jim Jordan backtracked on the pause on his speakership bid on Thursday, announcing in the afternoon that the members of the GOP had rejected a temporary solution to empower interim speaker Patrick McHenry until January.

“We made the pitch to members on the resolution as a way to lower the temperature and get back to work. We decided that wasn’t where we’re gonna go. I’m still running for speaker and I plan to go the floor and get the votes and win this race,” he said, according to the Washington Examiner.

According to Punchbowl News, Majority Whip Tom Emmer said: “As I have made very clear over the last few days, we should never allow a Democrat-backed coalition government. Ever. The only coalition we should be looking to build is a Republican coalition uniting all of our conference.”

Republicans coming out of the three-and-a-half-hour conference meeting, which grew emotional at times, said they expected a vote to take place soon but that they wanted to give Mr Jordan more time to speak to the holdouts, CNN reported.

Key Points

• New speaker vote expected after temporary solution rejected by House GOP in emotional conference meeting

• VIDEO: Moment Jim Jordan loses second House speaker vote by larger margin than in first round

• Lawler says Jordan isn’t seeking vote today

• Jim Jordan still in House speaker race as GOP scuttles plan to empower McHenry

• House GOP meeting becomes emotional

Live: US House expected to vote in third round of speaker election

15:03 , Benji Salmon

VIDEO: Jordan refuses to admit that Donald Trump fairly lost the 2020 election

15:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Freedom Caucus chair calls death threats to colleagues ‘red herring'

14:45 , Gustaf Kilander

The chair of the House Freedom Caucus, Rep Scott Perry, downplayed the attacks and death threats sent to GOP members voting against Mr Jordan, calling it a “red herring”.

“There are people out in the world that dislike us and threaten us. That’s nothing new. It’s nothing new to any member of Congress. We all know it. That is another red herring,” he said, according to Punchbowl News.

“No one in this town seemed to mind the pressure campaign from all the lobbyists … in January. But suddenly now they mind all the calls, and the emails and the texts,” he added.

This comes after Republican Iowa Rep Mariannette Miller-Meeks revealed in a lengthy statement that she received “credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls” after refusing to back Mr Jordan.

Rep Don Bacon of Nebraska, another GOP member who didn’t vote for Mr Jordan, told Politico that his wife received texts and emails, urging her to convince her husband to back Mr Jordan.

Another GOP holdout, Rep Steve Womack of Arkansas, said that his office has been inundated with profane calls, but “no real substantive threats,” according to CNN.

Mr Womack said, “Frankly, just based on what I’ve been through – I can only speak to myself and what my staff has been through over the last 24 or 48 hours – it is obvious what the strategy has been: Attack, attack, attack. Attack the members who don’t agree with you, attack them, beat them into submission”.

Rep Drew Ferguson also revealed on Thursday that he had been the subject of death threats.

“As the Republican Conference designee, I supported Congressman Jordan on the first ballot. Following the first vote, I had genuine concerns about the threatening tactics and pressure campaigns Jordan and his allies were using to leverage members for their votes,” he said in a statement.

“I discussed this directly with Jim, and planned to support him on the second ballot. When the pressure campaigns and attacks on fellow members ramped up, it became clear to me that the House Republican Conference does not need a bully as the Speaker. I cast my vote for Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a principled conservative and unifying leader,” he added. “Shortly after casting that vote, my family and I started receiving death threats. That is simply unacceptable, unforgivable, and will never be tolerated.”

A GOP source later told Axios that Mr Ferguson “told the conference that he‘s had to have a sheriff stationed at his daughter’s school over death threats from the far right. Also one at his house”.

‘It’s going to go on as long as it takes,’ Freedom Caucus chair says

14:30 , Gustaf Kilander

The chair of the House Freedom Caucus, Rep Scott Perry, lambasted the Republican holdouts on Friday, telling reporters, “It’s going to go on as long as it takes. I think these folks need to tell their constituents. They don’t owe me, but they owe their constituents the reason why the House isn’t open when we have a speaker designee ... they’re coming up with petty reasons on why they’re voting no,” according to CNN and Punchbowl News.

Jim Jordan announces plan to hold third vote for speaker despite losing votes

14:15 , Eric Garcia

Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) refused to withdraw from his bid to become speaker of the US House of Representatives, announcing instead that he would call for a third vote.

Mr Jordan delivered a defiant press conference where he compared his bid for speaker to the span of time that it took the Wright Brothers’ first flight to the moon landing in 1969.

The co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus who has previously ground the House of Representatives to a halt when he helped shut down the government in 2013 and who played a key role in former president Donald Trump’s scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election results spoke about the need to resume the business of governing.

“The quickest way to get all this working is to get a speaker elected,” he said. “That’s what I hope we can do today.”

Mr Jordan brushed off the fact that he failed to receive the necessary votes to become speaker after a vote on Tuesday and another one on Wednesday.

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Climbing the ranks in the Trump era

14:00 , Eric Garcia

Speaker John Boehner’s ouster gave Mr Jordan increased political clout. During Paul Ryan’s speakership, Mr Jordan continued to criticise the House GOP leadership. When Donald Trump became president, Mr Jordan quickly became a fixture in conservative media criticising attempts of the “deep state” to undermine Mr Trump.

On the House Judiciary Committee, Mr Jordan served as one of the chief apologists during Mr Trump’s first impeachment trial, aggressively questioning witnesses who alleged that Mr Trump sought to have Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky investigate Joe Biden’s son Hunter in exchange for aid to Ukraine as a means to help him win re-election.

When Mr Meadows left the House to become White House chief of staff, Mr Jordan became chairman of the Oversight Committee before resigning that post to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

When Mr Ryan left the speakership in 2019, Mr Jordan became a trusted ally of then-minority leader Kevin McCarthy. He also became a welcome fixture at the White House and led efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. On 5 November 2020, he participated in a rally to “Stop the Steal” at Pennsylvania’s state capitol in Harrisburg.

The House select committee that investigated the January 6 riot found that on 21 December 2020, Mr Jordan and a handful of House Republicans met with Mr Trump to discuss efforts to object to the election results and Mr Trump held the event to “disseminate his false claims and to encourage members of the public to fight the outcome on January 6”. He also admitted that he spoke with Mr Trump on the day of the January 6 riot.

In 2021, when the House organised the select committee to investigate January 6, Mr McCarthy selected Mr Jordan and Rep Jim Banks (R-IN), two allies of Mr Trump, as two of his five selections for the committee. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected Mr Banks and Mr Jordan, which led to Mr McCarthy pulling the rest of his members.

Over time, Mr McCarthy continued to elevate him, having him lead a subcommittee on the “weaponisation” of the federal government. Earlier this year, when many critics of Mr McCarthy opted to support him, he encouraged them to support Mr McCarthy, saying “I think Kevin McCarthy’s the right guy to lead us. I really do, or I wouldn’t be standing up here giving up this speech”.

Fox News possibly ‘beginning to turn’ on Jim Jordan

13:46 , Gustaf Kilander

Jordan again says there were ‘problems’ with 2020 election

13:42 , Gustaf Kilander

Despite some of the GOP holdouts saying that Mr Jordan’s election denialism is one of the reasons they can’t support him, Mr Jordan said on Friday morning, “I think there were all kinds of problems with the 2020 election. I've been clear about that”.

Almost three years after the election, no substantial evidence has emerged that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election unlawfully, even as former President Donald Trump and some of his allies continue to insist the vote was riddled with fraud.

Jordan pushes Israel aid as reason for moderates to back him

13:37 , Gustaf Kilander

The Independent’s Eric Garcia asked during Mr Jordan’s press conference on Friday morning: “What do you say to the people to people in Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu that you're not able to provide aid to Israel because the House is so locked up?”

“Yeah, I think you're making my case,” Mr Jordan said. “I got 200 votes as the speaker designee from my colleagues, the sooner we can get this accomplished, the better for the American people who expect us to work for them and for our friends and allies like the great State of Israel.”

‘We certainly need to help Israel,’ Jordan says but avoids mentioning Ukraine

13:32 , Gustaf Kilander

During his press conference on Friday morning, Mr Jordan said, “we certainly need to help Israel. But I got to see the package but again, we can't do that [until] the House [is] open”.

He said it was “all the more reason why we need to get the House open as soon as possible”.

But Mr Jordan avoided mentioning Ukraine.

Jordan claims lost votes can ‘come back’ as he pushes ahead with speaker bid

13:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Jordan held a short press conference on Friday morning, lasting only about ten minutes and taking few questions from reporters.

“Between the first one and the second vote, you all said we're gonna lose 10, 15 votes,” Mr Jordan told the press. “We picked up a few we lost a few. I think the ones we lost can come back. So look, there's been multiple rounds of votes for speaker before.”

On the first vote, 20 Republicans voted against Mr Jordan, and 22 did so on the second. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy took 15 rounds of voting before he managed to get across the line in January.

‘In 66 years, one lifetime, we went from two guys flying 100 feet to putting a man on the moon,’ Jordan says at press conference

13:10 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Jim Jordan began his press conference by telling the story of the evolution of flight, speaking about his visit to tour the Wright Brothers’ homes.

“I represent Wapakoneta, Ohio Auglaize County, Ohio hometown of Neil Armstrong, who 22 years after Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier steps on the moon. Stop and think about it. In 66 years, one lifetime, we went from two guys flying 100 feet to putting a man on the moon,” Mr Jordan said. “It is a great country, a great country, the greatest country in my judgment made up of great people. And right now those people I think, are starting to doubt and wonder about their government and about where our nation is headed.”

“They see an open border. They see crime in the streets. They know what it costs to put gas in their car. They know what it costs to put food on the table. They see a war in Israel, our strongest ally Israel. What's happening there and the help that Israel needs,” Mr Jordan said.

The ‘legislative terrorist’

13:00 , Eric Garcia

Mr Jordan holds few legislative accomplishments and he criticised leaders in his own party as often as he criticised the Obama administration and Democrats. Rather than focusing on the work of governing, he focused more on raising his objections in the media.

After Republicans won the majority in the House of Representatives, he turned down a position on the House Appropriations Committee, which allocates money to various programmes and has long been considered the most prestigious committee in the House. Rather, he chose to lead the Republican Study Committee, an ideologically conservative focused on advancing conservative policies.

In 2013, he and a handful of Tea Party conservatives teamed up with Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) in an effort to shut down the government if Congress did not defund the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The effort would never be successful since Democrats controlled the Senate at the time and Mr Obama still occupied the White House. But it burnished Mr Jordan’s credentials as a conservative warrior.

In 2015, he became the founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, serving as its inaugural chairman. Ultimately, his colleague Mark Meadows, a congressman from North Carolina who would go on to serve as White House chief of staff, filed a motion to vacate the chair during John Boehner’s tenure as speaker. The vote never came but it was enough to end Mr Boehner’s time as speaker. Later, Mr Boehner would criticise his tactics. “Jordan was a terrorist as a legislator going back to his days in the Ohio House and Senate,” before dubbing him “a legislative terrorist”.

Jim Jordan plans press conference before heading into third vote

12:30 , Rachel Sharp

McCarthy screams at Gaetz as fellow GOP rep ‘almost lunged at him’

12:00 , Gustaf Kilander

The Republican conference meeting grew heated following the announcement that Rep Jim Jordan is relaunching his campaign for the gavel after putting a pause on his speakership bid.

Rep Kevin McCarthy, the recently ousted speaker, reportedly screamed at Rep Matt Gaetz, who brought the motion to vacate against Mr McCarthy earlier this month, to sit down and Rep Michael Bost was seen “almost lunging at him,” a person who was in the room told Axios.

Mr Jordan backtracked on a pause on his speakership bid on Thursday (19 October), announcing in the afternoon that the members of the House GOP had rejected a temporary solution to empower interim speaker Patrick McHenry until January.

“We made the pitch to members on the resolution as a way to lower the temperature and get back to work. We decided that wasn’t where we’re gonna go. I’m still running for speaker and I plan to go the floor and get the votes and win this race,” he said, according to the Washington Examiner.

According to Punchbowl News, Majority Whip Tom Emmer said: “As I have made very clear over the last few days, we should never allow a Democrat-backed coalition government. Ever. The only coalition we should be looking to build is a Republican coalition uniting all of our conference.”

READ MORE

Next House speaker vote at 10am ET today

11:30 , Rachel Sharp

Rep Jim Jordan is pushing ahead with a third vote to become the next speaker of the House of Representatives today following heated talks among House GOP members on Thursday night.

Despite losing two votes and doubts remaining that he will be able to meet the 217 vote threshold needed to take the gavel, Mr Jordan is now planning to hold a new vote at 10am ET on Friday.

The Ohio congressman initially announced he was putting a pause on his speakership bid on Thursday, backing a temporary solution to empower interim speaker Patrick McHenry until January in the hopes the Republican party can get its house in order.

But he then backtracked on this hours later, after GOP members rejected that option.

How has he gotten to this point?

11:00 , Eric Garcia

Prior to serving in Congress, Mr Jordan attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he became a champion wrestler in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association. Shortly thereafter, he received a master’s degree from Ohio State University and a law degree from Capital University Law School, though he never took the bar exam and never practised law, telling NPR in 2018, “I’m just a wannabe”.

He later served in both chambers of Ohio’s General Assembly before he won a seat in the US Congress in 2006. In the following years, he became one of the loudest voices in the Tea Party movement that served as a backlash to Barack Obama’s presidency.

A product of the Tea Party wave

10:00 , Eric Garcia

A product of the Tea Party wave and founder of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, Mr Jordan’s tenure in the House led to the ouster of former speaker John Boehner, which set the stage for Kevin McCarthy’s downfall earlier this month, despite his steadfast support for the speaker.

In addition, as a previous chair of the House Oversight Committee and now the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, he has defended Mr Trump vociferously. Fast-talking, pugnacious and prone to inflammatory rhetoric that veers into outright falsehoods, Mr Jordan often can be seen roaming the halls of the House not wearing a suit jacket.

But he also played a significant role in Mr Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and spreading misinformation since then. He’s faced further scrutiny about whether he refused to report the sexual abuse of wrestlers he coached while at the Ohio State University.

Jim Jordan is a conservative hellraiser in the House. Now he’s Trump’s top choice for speaker

09:00 , Eric Garcia

Early in the morning of 6 October, former president Donald Trump threw his support behind Rep Jim Jordan in the race to become speaker of the House. The endorsement was not entirely surprising given Mr Jordan, an Ohio congressman, occupied the same lane in the House of Representatives that Mr Trump has as a presidential candidate and president – as an expression of conservatives who were dissatisfied with Republican leadership and a candidate who channelled their rage.

Following the failure of Majority Leader Steve Scalise to get the backing he needed for a vote on the floor of the House, the focus has now returned to Mr Jordan, who was the only challenger to Mr Scalise in the first internal GOP vote on who should be the next speaker. Mr Scalise won that vote 113 to Mr Jordan’s 99.

Mr Jordan backtracked on a pause on his speakership bid on Thursday (19 October), announcing in the afternoon that the members of the House GOP had rejected a temporary solution to empower interim speaker Patrick McHenry until January.

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If Jim Jordan fails, who’s the next House speaker?

08:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Jim Jordan backtracked on a pause on his speakership bid on Thursday (19 October), announcing in the afternoon that the members of the House GOP had rejected a temporary solution to empower interim speaker Patrick McHenry until January.

“We made the pitch to members on the resolution as a way to lower the temperature and get back to work. We decided that wasn’t where we’re gonna go. I’m still running for speaker and I plan to go the floor and get the votes and win this race,” he said, according to the Washington Examiner.

Who’s next in line?

If Mr Jordan is unable to grasp the House speaker gavel, a number of Republicans have mentioned Louisiana Rep Mike Johnson as a possible next option.

The vice chair of the Republican conference, 51, has been floated alongside Majority Whip Tom Emmer, 62, who has spent the last half-decade in the leadership, with most of his time going to chairing the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

While Mr Emmer has some backers on the right of the party, large parts of the Trump wing aren’t as supportive, Punchbowl News noted.

READ MORE

Jim Jordan’s controversies: The Ohio State allegations

07:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Jordan, a back-to-back NCAA national wrestling champion in 1985 and 1986, served as the assistant coach on the Ohio State wrestling team between 1987 and 1995.

Four wrestlers have come forward claiming that Mr Jordan failed to shield them from the alleged sexual abuse by team physician Richard Strauss, who died by suicide in 2005. There have been no allegations made that Mr Jordan committed any sexual misconduct but members of the team claim that he was aware of Dr Strauss’s violations and that he chose to turn a blind eye to it.

Mr Jordan hasn’t faced arrest or charges for failure to report, but the four wrestlers named him in a lawsuit against the school.

Mr Jordan has rejected all allegations of wrongdoing and he has declined to take part in the investigations against Dr Strauss. He told Fox News that the “lies” had been “sequenced and choreographed” by “the left”.

Former OSU wrestler Mike Schyck is one of hundreds of students who say they faced sexual abuse from Dr Strauss.

“Do you really want a guy in that job who chose not to stand up for his guys?” he asked, according to NBC News. “Is that the kind of character trait you want for a House speaker?”

If Mr Jordan becomes speaker, he may still be deposed in one of the legal filings.

Dunyasha Yetts, also a former wrestler at the university, has accused Mr Jordan of lying when saying he was unaware of the alleged abuse, calling his “hypocrisy … unbelievable”.

“He doesn’t deserve to be House speaker,” Mr Yetts told the network. “He still has to answer for what happened to us.”

Fellow former OSU wrestler and attorney representing a number of the plaintiffs, Rocky Ratliff, told NBC that Mr Jordan “abandoned his former wrestlers in the Ohio State sexual abuse scandal and cover-up”.

An unidentified individual referred to as John Doe in the most recent legal filing said that he thinks that while Mr Jordan is qualified to be speaker, he struggled to endorse his bid.

“My problem with Jimmy is that he has been playing with words instead of supporting us,” the individual said, according to NBC. “None of us used the words ‘sexual abuse’ when we talked about what Doc Strauss was doing to us, we just knew it was weird and Jimmy knew about it because we talked about it all the time in the locker room, at practices, everywhere.”

“His locker was just a few spots away from mine and mine was near Dr Strauss,” Mr Schyck noted. “And we were always talking about Dr Strauss. There’s no way he didn’t know what was going on.”

Mr Ratliff called it an “open secret”.

“Everybody talked about Strauss,” he said, according to NBC. “Everybody knew if you went to him, the first thing he would do is take down your pants. Everybody knew he was taking unnecessary showers with the team. His locker was near Jimmy’s locker.”

Jim Jordan’s controversies: The Insurrection

06:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Democrats have been slamming Mr Jordan as an “insurrectionist” who played a key part in former President Donald Trump’s attempt to stay in office despite his 2020 election loss. Mr Jordan is also reported to have spoken to the then-president on the day of the Capitol riot – January 6, 2021.

The Congressional Integrity Project watchdog shared an ad on Monday (16 October) slamming Mr Jordan for his role in the riot, writing on X: “Every Republican who votes for Jim Jordan to be Speaker of the House should be held accountable for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, support for the attack on our country on January 6th, and attacks on our democracy.”

The video begins with the words: “Right now, the leading contender to become Speaker and second in line to the presidency is a co-founder of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, election-denier MAGA-extremist. He’s arguably the member of Congress most involved in Donald Trump’s attempted coup.”

The ad from the left-leaning group includes footage from news reports and comments by Republicans criticising Mr Jordan.

“Jim Jordan knew more about what Donald Trump had planned for January 6 than any other member of the House of Representatives,” former Rep Liz Cheney of Wyoming says in a clip in the video.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and later whistleblower, says in another part of the ad: “Jim Jordan was privy to nearly everything, if not everything, about and pertaining to January 6. Jim Jordan can’t be trusted with the Constitution.”

In a virtual committee meeting later in January 2021, Mr Jordan said, “What happened at the Capitol on January 6 was as wrong as wrong can be,” according to The Washington Post.

Wrestling abuse claims, Jan 6 and abortion: Jim Jordan’s controversies plaguing his House speaker bid

05:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Jim Jordan, the rightwing bomb-thrower whom former Speaker John Boehner, a fellow Ohioan, called a “legislative terrorist”, has backtracked on pausing his bid for the House speaker role.

Mr Jordan announced on Thursday (19 October) that the members of the House GOP had rejected a temporary solution to empower interim speaker Patrick McHenry until January.

A number of scandals and controversies still haunt his now paused bid to lead the chamber the work of which he’s been steadfastly trying to grind to a halt since 2007.

READ MORE

GOP holdout has sheriff stationed at his daughter’s school over far right death threats

04:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Drew Ferguson also revealed on Thursday that he had been the subject of death threats.

“As the Republican Conference designee, I supported Congressman Jordan on the first ballot. Following the first vote, I had genuine concerns about the threatening tactics and pressure campaigns Jordan and his allies were using to leverage members for their votes,” he said in a statement.

“I discussed this directly with Jim, and planned to support him on the second ballot. When the pressure campaigns and attacks on fellow members ramped up, it became clear to me that the House Republican Conference does not need a bully as the Speaker. I cast my vote for Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a principled conservative and unifying leader,” he added. “Shortly after casting that vote, my family and I started receiving death threats. That is simply unacceptable, unforgivable, and will never be tolerated.”

A GOP source later told Axios that Mr Ferguson “told the conference that he‘s had to have a sheriff stationed at his daughter’s school over death threats from the far right. Also one at his house”.

‘It is obvious what the strategy has been – Attack, attack, attack,’ Steve Womack says

03:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Another GOP holdout, Rep Steve Womack of Arkansas, said that his office has been inundated with profane calls, but “no real substantive threats,” according to CNN.

On Wednesday, Mr Jordan shared his disdain for the death threats.

“It should never happen,” he said. “It’s just wrong, and we don’t want it to happen to anyone, any American, anybody, any member of Congress. It’s just wrong.”

Earlier, Mr Jordan wrote on X that “no American should accost another for their beliefs … Stop. It’s abhorrent”.

Mr Womack said, “Frankly, just based on what I’ve been through – I can only speak to myself and what my staff has been through over the last 24 or 48 hours – it is obvious what the strategy has been: Attack, attack, attack. Attack the members who don’t agree with you, attack them, beat them into submission”.

Wife of GOP holdout receives threatening texts and emails

02:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Don Bacon told Politico that his wife received a number of anonymous emails and texts from people pushing the message that the Nebraska representative would lose his seat unless he backed Mr Jordan.

“He has more courage than you. You won’t put your name to your statements,” Mr Bacon’s wife responded, according to the screenshots shared by Politico.

The tactics of Mr Jordan’s allies are considered to have backfired after he lost further support on the second ballot. The pressure campaign often included not-so-veiled threats of primary challenges from the right.

“Jim’s been nice, one-on-one, but his broader team has been playing hardball,” Mr Bacon told Politico on Tuesday.

Mr Jordan doesn’t appear to have been directly involved in the strategy employed by his allies and supporters.

Some holdouts refusing to speak to Jordan

01:00 , Gustaf Kilander

New York GOP holdout issues statement after meeting with Jordan pushing temporary solution

Friday 20 October 2023 00:15 , Gustaf Kilander

In a statement after leaving a meeting with Mr Jordan, Rep Mike Lawler said: “In the absence of an immediate resolution, we must empower Speaker Pro-Tempore Patrick McHenry to serve as Speaker temporarily to allow us to get back to work.”

'If you’re going to blow up a bridge, you better have another one to cross’

Thursday 19 October 2023 23:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Mike Waltz told CNN, “If you’re going to blow up a bridge, you better have another one to cross and those eight clearly didn’t have another one to cross,” in reference to the GOP members who ousted McCarthy.

Jordan opponents say they’re not backing down

Thursday 19 October 2023 22:45 , Gustaf Kilander

Opponents of Mr Jordan within the GOP have said that they’re not changing their minds about his bid even as the Ohio Republican is making yet another attempt to convince the 22 Republicans who voted against him.

VIDEO: ‘I’m still running for Speaker, and I plan to go to the floor'

Thursday 19 October 2023 22:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Jim Jordan backtracked on pausing his speakership bid, telling reporters on Thursday afternoon that “I’m still running for Speaker, and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes”.

Lawler says Jordan isn’t seeking vote today

Thursday 19 October 2023 21:48 , Gustaf Kilander

Jim Jordan still in House speaker race as GOP scuttles plan to empower McHenry

Thursday 19 October 2023 21:30 , Andrew Feinberg, Eric Garcia

Ohio Representative Jim Jordan will ask his House Republican colleagues to vote for him on a third ballot for House Speaker despite losing two consecutive votes on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The right-wing firebrand refused to sign on to a plan to empower Rep Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, who has served as Speaker Pro Tempore since a group of hardline conservatives forced the ouster of then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier this month.

According to Punchbowl News and The Washington Post, Mr Jordan had informed his GOP colleagues of his intention to stand down as members were entering a House Republican Conference meeting Thursday morning.

He was reported to have agreed to back a plan floated by fellow Ohioan Rep David Joyce to empower Mr McHenry, who had been placed in the temporary post because he was on a list submitted by Mr McCarthy, the former speaker, under a provision of the House rules added for continuity of government purposes after the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

But Mr Jordan later told reporters in the Capitol basement on Thursday that the plan to empower Mr McHenry “wasn’t where we’re going to go”.

“I’m still running for speaker, and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race. I want to talk with my colleagues, particularly the 20 individuals who voted against me, so we can move forward and begin to work for the American people,” he said.

READ MORE

House GOP meeting becomes emotional

Thursday 19 October 2023 21:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Kevin McCarthy yet again tries to blame Democrats for GOP dysfunction

Thursday 19 October 2023 20:30 , Gustaf Kilander

‘We’re handing our majority back over to the Democrats'

Thursday 19 October 2023 20:00 , Gustaf Kilander

A furious Rep Jim Banks spoke to reporters on Thursday, saying, “We’re handing our majority back over to the Democrats by going along with a power-sharing agreement. It’s absurd. It’s the biggest ‘F-U’ to Republican voters I’ve ever seen”.

“There’s nothing I’ve ever wanted more in this Congress than for Jim Jordan to be the Speaker … What they’re doing right now is walking Republicans off the plank. We don’t deserve the majority if we go along with a plan to give the Democrats control,” he added.

New speaker vote expected after temporary solution rejected by House GOP in emotional conference meeting

Thursday 19 October 2023 19:46 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Jim Jordan backtracked on the pause on his speakership bid on Thursday, announcing in the afternoon that the members of the GOP had rejected a temporary solution to empower interim speaker Patrick McHenry until January.

“We made the pitch to members on the resolution as a way to lower the temperature and get back to work. We decided that wasn’t where we’re gonna go. I’m still running for speaker and I plan to go the floor and get the votes and win this race,” he said, according to the Washington Examiner.

According to Punchbowl News, Majority Whip Tom Emmer said: “As I have made very clear over the last few days, we should never allow a Democrat-backed coalition government. Ever. The only coalition we should be looking to build is a Republican coalition uniting all of our conference.”

Republicans coming out of the three-and-a-half-hour conference meeting, which grew emotional at times, said they expected a vote to take place soon but that they wanted to give Mr Jordan more time to speak to the holdouts, CNN reported. 

McCarthy screams at Gaetz as fellow GOP rep ‘almost lunged at him’

Thursday 19 October 2023 19:30 , Gustaf Kilander

The Republican conference meeting grew heated following the announcement that Rep Jim Jordan is putting a pause on his speakership bid.

Rep Kevin McCarthy, the recently ousted speaker, reportedly screamed at Rep Matt Gaetz, who brought the motion to vacate against Mr McCarthy earlier this month, to sit down and Rep Michael Bost was seen “almost lunging at him,” a person who was in the room told Axios.

This comes after the announcement that Mr Jordan would not hold a third vote on his speakership bid on Thursday and is instead leaning towards backing Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry to serve as interim speaker until 3 January 2024.

Mr Jordan was reportedly told by colleagues that he should step down after losing two votes on the floor of the House and the votes against him from his own GOP members were expected to increase for each vote.

The Ohioan will remain the speaker designee and retain the right to go to the floor again at a later date.

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Georgia Republican shares memes amidst speaker debacle

Thursday 19 October 2023 19:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Mike Johnson and Kevin Hern suggested as candidates able to reach 217

Thursday 19 October 2023 18:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Marjorie Taylor Greene rejects temporary speaker solution

Thursday 19 October 2023 18:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene said the temporary solution is not the way to go.

“We should all be able to find a path in that room right there, and that requires putting the egos down,” she said.

Freedom Caucus chair says Jordan should keep trying to win enough votes to become speaker

Thursday 19 October 2023 18:00 , Eric Garcia

Rep Jim Banks of Indiana, an ally of Mr Jordan, criticised said Mr McHenry doesn’t represent the whole of the House Republican conference.

“He doesn’t represent what the majority of the body is looking for in a speaker,” he said.

Similarly, Rep Scott Perry, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus which Mr Jordan co-founded, said Mr Jordan should keep trying to win enough votes to become speaker.

“We shouldn’t be setting this precedent or this will be the way we elect speakers from now on,” Mr Perry told The Independent.

‘No reason not to have’ McHenry carry on

Thursday 19 October 2023 17:45 , Eric Garcia

One Republican who has thus far backed Mr Jordan, Rep Dan Crenshaw of Texas, said he was “definitely open” to the proposal to formalise Mr McHenry’s powers while adding the caveat that he hadn’t yet seen the actual plan.

Another Republican who previously voted for Mr Jordan, California Representative Darrell Issa, said Mr McHenry had conducted himself well during the post-McCarthy interregnum and deserved to remain in the post.

“Speaker McCarthy chose carefully and Patrick is shown himself to be very appropriate as a reserved and thoughtful interim leader. There’s no reason not to have him continue,” he said.

‘We need to get the House moving'

Thursday 19 October 2023 17:28 , Eric Garcia

The proposal to enact a resolution empowering Mr McHenry has support from some moderate Democrats, as well as a few of the Republicans who’ve voted against Mr Jordan in the two votes held so far.

Rep Carlos Gimenez of Florida, an ally of Mr McCarthy who opposed Mr Jordan’s candidacy, told reporters he supports the measure to empower the North Carolinian through year’s end because it will let the House get back to work.

“We can’t get to a speaker. Everything is stopped. We need to get the House moving,” he said.

GOP rep suggests bring in Trump as speaker for 100 days

Thursday 19 October 2023 17:12 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Troy Nehls suggested that Donald Trump be brought in for 100 days to lead the GOP in the House.

GOP Rep estimates half of conference will reject temporary speaker powers

Thursday 19 October 2023 17:03 , Gustaf Kilander

Republicans reveals threats after they refused to vote for Jim Jordan

Thursday 19 October 2023 17:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Republican Iowa Rep Mariannette Miller-Meeks revealed in a lengthy statement that she received “credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls” after refusing to back Rep Jim Jordan for speaker.

Rep Don Bacon of Nebraska, another GOP member who didn’t vote for Mr Jordan, told Politico that his wife received texts and emails, urging her to convince her husband to back Mr Jordan.

Ms Miller-Meeks voted for Mr Jordan on the first ballot but chose to back Rep Kay Granger of Texas on the second vote on Wednesday.

“After one round of votes, with my support, he was not able to secure enough votes for the Speaker nomination and my initial concerns about threatening tactics of Jim Jordan’s supporters, including from members of Congress, increased despite assurances,” she said.

“Since my vote in support of Chairwoman Granger, I have received credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls. The proper authorities have been notified and my office is cooperating fully,” she added. “One thing I cannot stomach, or support is a bully.”

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Thursday 19 October 2023 16:53 , Eric Garcia

Jim Banks blasts the idea of McHenry being empowered.

“He doesn’t represent what the majority of the body is looking for in a speaker.”

Gaetz says it’s a 'constitutional desecration to not elect a Speaker of the House’

Thursday 19 October 2023 16:51 , Gustaf Kilander

GOP Rep Matt Gaetz of Florida, whose motion to vacate against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy set off this chain of events, told reporters on Thursday that he didn’t support the suggestion that interim Speaker Patrick McHenry receive temporary powers to reopen the House.

“I’m against ‘Speaker Light.’ I’m against Bud Light. I believe it is a constitutional desecration to not elect a Speaker of the House. We need to stay here until we elect a Speaker,” Mr Gaetz said.

‘We gotta come to a conclusion’: Jordan opponent shares ‘mixed feelings’ on empowering interim speaker

Thursday 19 October 2023 16:48 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Don Bacon, an opponent of Mr Jordan, told the press on Thursday that he has “mixed feelings” on the suggestion to empower Rep Patrick McHenry as acting speaker.

“There’s pros and cons … We gotta move some legislation … For our country, we need it, but I think it may delay the Speaker’s thing. And we gotta come to a conclusion,” he said.

Pause on Jordan speaker bid comes amid GOP revolt after death threats

Thursday 19 October 2023 16:45 , Gustaf Kilander

The pause on Mr Jordan’s speakership bid comes as Rep Drew Ferguson revealed on Thursday that he has been the subject of death threats.

“As the Republican Conference designee, I supported Congressman Jordan on the first ballot. Following the first vote, I had genuine concerns about the threatening tactics and pressure campaigns Jordan and his allies were using to leverage members for their votes,” he said in a statement.

“I discussed this directly with Jim, and planned to support him on the second ballot. When the pressure campaigns and attacks on fellow members ramped up, it became clear to me that the House Republican Conference does not need a bully as the Speaker. I cast my vote for Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a principled conservative and unifying leader,” he added. “Shortly after casting that vote, my family and I started receiving death threats. That is simply unacceptable, unforgivable, and will never be tolerated.”

Similarly, Republican Iowa Rep Mariannette Miller-Meeks previously said in a lengthy statement that she received “credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls” after refusing to back Rep Jim Jordan for speaker.

Ms Miller-Meeks voted for Mr Jordan on the first ballot but chose to back Rep Kay Granger of Texas on the second vote on Wednesday.

“After one round of votes, with my support, he was not able to secure enough votes for the Speaker nomination and my initial concerns about threatening tactics of Jim Jordan’s supporters, including from members of Congress, increased despite assurances,” she said.

“Since my vote in support of Chairwoman Granger, I have received credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls. The proper authorities have been notified and my office is cooperating fully,” she added. “One thing I cannot stomach, or support is a bully.”

“I understand that voting against Rep Jordan is not popular at this time. I respected Jim enough to vote for him, knowing he did not have the votes to be elected,” Ms Miller-Meeks said.

McHenry has insisted his powers are limited to presiding over the election of a successor

Thursday 19 October 2023 16:38 , Andrew Feimberg

Mr Jordan will back a plan floated by fellow Ohioan Rep David Joyce to empower Mr McHenry, who had been placed in the temporary post because he was on a list submitted by Mr McCarthy, the former speaker, under a provision of the House rules added for continuity of government purposes after the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

But in the two weeks since Mr McCarthy’s defenestration at the hands of GOP hardliners, Mr McHenry has insisted that his power as Speaker Pro Tempore is limited to presiding over the election of a successor to the ousted Californian.

The Tarheel State Republican, an 18-year veteran of the House who has chaired the Financial Services Committee since Republicans assumed control of the House in January, is well-liked on both sides of the aisle and not viewed as openly antagonistic to basic governing tasks.

By contrast, Mr Jordan’s bid for the speaker’s gavel was derailed by concerns among members of his own party that his history of legislative bomb-throwing and lack of accomplishments made him a poor fit for a role that is second in the presidential line of succession.

The proposal to enact a resolution empowering Mr McHenry has support from some moderate Democrats, as well as a few of the Republicans who’ve voted against Mr Jordan in the two votes held so far.

Rep Carlos Gimenez, an ally of Mr McCarthy who opposed Mr Jordan’s candidacy, told reporters he supports the measure to empower the North Carolinian through year’s end because it will let the House get back to work.

“We can’t get to a speaker. Everything is stopped. We need to get the House moving,” he said.

‘We shouldn’t be setting the precedent that this is the way we should elect a speaker'

Thursday 19 October 2023 16:36 , Gustaf Kilander

While almost all those taking part in the discussions with Mr Jordan and his allies have told reporters that Mr Jordan doesn’t want to go to the floor, those close to Mr Jordan say this is inaccurate, according to Punchbowl.

Freedom Caucus chair Scott Perry said, “We shouldn’t be setting the precedent that this is the way we should elect a speaker”.

Mr Perry added that Mr Jordan “doesn’t need to drop out” and that he would continue to back him.

Jordan opponent calls plan to pause speaker bid a ‘big problem'

Thursday 19 October 2023 16:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Jordan will reportedly back the plan to keep Mr McHenry in his post until January to give himself time to convince colleagues to back him even as the House reopens.

Rep Carlos Gimenez, an opponent of Mr Jordan, didn’t support the idea when speaking to CNN, calling it a “big problem”.

Biden torches Jim Jordan over his two failed House speaker bids: ‘I ache for him’

Thursday 19 October 2023 16:30 , Mike Bedigan, Eric Garcia

President Joe Biden gave a sarcastic response when he was asked about the current predicament facing the GOP’s beleaguered House Speaker nominee Jim Jordan.

A third round of voting for speakership is due to take place on Thursday, after the Ohio Republican fell short of the required number of votes needed to take the gavel for a second time.

On Wednesday, 22 Republicans voted against Mr Jordan – an even poorer performance from his first vote when 20 members of his party defected.

On his return from a trip to Israel on Wednesday, Mr Biden was asked if he had any thoughts on Mr Jordan’s inability to secure the speakership.

Putting his hand across his heart, a smiling Mr Biden replied: “I ache for him.”

READ MORE:

Biden torches Jim Jordan over his two failed House speaker bids

Patrick McHenry says goal is still to get Jordan elected speaker

Thursday 19 October 2023 16:26 , Gustaf Kilander

Interim Speaker Patrick McHenry said that the goal was still to elect Jim Jordan speaker even as it was reported that a third vote on the speakership would not be held on Thursday.

Jim Jordan bows out of House speaker race as GOP set to empower McHenry

Thursday 19 October 2023 16:23 , Andrew Feinberg

Ohio Representative Jim Jordan will reportedly not ask his House Republican colleagues to vote for him on a third ballot for House Speaker after losing two consecutive votes on Tuesday and Wednesday, and will instead sign on to a plan to empower Rep Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, who has served as Speaker Pro Tempore since a group of hardline conservatives forced the ouster of then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier this month.

According to Punchbowl News and The Washington Post, Mr Jordan informed his GOP colleagues of his intention to stand down at a House Republican Conference meeting Thursday morning.

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Jordan will not hold third speaker vote

Thursday 19 October 2023 16:11 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Jim Jordan will not hold a third vote on his speakership bid on Thursday and is instead leaning towards backing Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry to serve as interim speaker until 3 January 2024.

This comes after he was told by colleagues that he should step down after losing two votes on the floor of the House and the votes against him from his own GOP members were expected to increase for each vote.

Mr Jordan will remain the speaker designee and retain the right to go to the floor again at a later date.

Twenty-two Republicans voted against Mr Jordan on the second ballot – up from 20 on the first. Four members joined the anti-Jordan coalition, while two who voted against him in the first vote went back into the fold to support him.

Some Republicans, led by Rep David Joyce of Ohio, have previously discussed potentially giving Mr McHenry more power so the House could resume deliberation to pass spending bills to avert a government shutdown.

Rightwing Republican says increasing defections will drive Jordan decision

Thursday 19 October 2023 16:00 , Gustaf Kilander

The chair of the rightwing group the Republican Study Committee, Rep Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, told the press that he supports Rep Jim Jordan going for a third ballot despite dropping support.

“He’s a fighter, these are tough times, we need somebody who’s going to be resolved in what he’s trying to do,” Mr Hern said. “Clearly he’s out working and that’s what you’ve got to do.”

But Mr Hern added that if the number of no votes “continues to grow to 22, 24, 30, 35, people start wearing down … I think that will be what drives the decision he needs to make”.

‘I’ve got to vote for Jordan, but thank god you’re doing what you’re doing'

Thursday 19 October 2023 15:30 , Gustaf Kilander

A House Republican who supported Rep Jim Jordan on the first two ballots told Axios that they were due to join those voting against him.

Rep Don Bacon opposed Mr Jordan from the beginning. Speaking of colleagues who may flip on a possible third vote, he said: “I think they never wanted to be there to begin with but promised Jim they were going to give him a vote or two.”

Mr Bacon revealed that he has fellow members approaching him to say “I’ve got to vote for Jordan, but thank god you’re doing what you’re doing”.