No majority reached in first ballot for US House speaker

A small group of Republicans rejected Rep. Jim Jordan for House speaker on a first ballot Tuesday as 20 holdouts denied the GOP the majority needed to seize the gavel.

Additional voting was postponed as the House hit a standstill, stuck while Jordan works to shore up support from Republican colleagues to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy for the job.

Reluctant Republicans are refusing to give Jordan their votes, viewing the Ohio congressman as too extreme for the powerful position, second in line to the presidency.

Next votes were expected Wednesday.

It’s been two weeks of angry Republican infighting since McCarthy’s sudden removal. The vote for House speaker, once a formality in Congress, has devolved into another bitter showdown for the gavel.

The tally, with 200 Republicans voting for Jordan and 212 for the Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, left no candidate with a clear majority, as 20 Republicans voted for someone else. With Republicans in majority control, Jordan must pick up most of his GOP foes to win.

With the House Republican majority narrowly held at 221-212, Jordan can afford to lose only a few votes to reach the 217 majority threshold, if there are no further absences.


ORIGINAL STORY:
Republicans will try to elect Rep. Jim Jordan as the new House speaker, and end an impasse among the majority party that has stalled the business of the House for days.

On Tuesday, the House is scheduled to start voting at noon in what could become a showdown for the gavel. At least a handful of holdout Republicans are refusing to give Jordan their votes, viewing the Ohio Republican as too extreme for the powerful position of House speaker, second in line to the presidency.

But with public pressure bearing down on lawmakers, it’s not clear how long the holdouts can last. Jordan swiftly flipped dozens of detractors in a matter of days, shoring up reluctant Republicans who have few options left two weeks after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster.

“The American people deserve to have their Congress and House of Representatives working, and you can’t have that happen until you get a speaker,” Jordan said after a late-night meeting Monday at the Capitol.

The political climb has been steep for Jordan, the combative Judiciary Committee chairman and a founding member of the right-flank Freedom Caucus. Upset that a small band of hardliners have upended the House, Republicans watched their majority control of the chamber descend into chaos since McCarthy’s sudden removal from the job. All House business has ground to a halt.

To seize the gavel, Jordan will need almost the full majority of his colleagues behind him in a House floor vote, as Democrats are certain to back their own nominee, Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

Jordan fell more than 50 votes short during internal party voting last Friday, after Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the party’s first nominee to replace McCarthy, abandoned his bid after Jordan’s allies refused to follow the party’s own rules and back him in a floor vote.

Jordan can rely on Donald Trump’s support as well as pressure on colleagues from an army of grass-roots activists who recognize him from cable news and fiery performances at committee hearings. Republicans say it will be hard for rank-and-file lawmakers to oppose him in a public floor vote.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who engineered McCarthy’s ouster by a handful of hardliners, publicly praised each lawmaker who has flipped to Jordan’s column — and berated those who have not.

Still, it could take multiple rounds during House floor voting not unlike in January when it took McCarthy 15 ballots to win the gavel. With the House Republican majority narrowly held at 221-212, he can only afford to lose a few votes to reach the 217 majority threshold, if there are no absences.



(AP Photo J. Scott Applewhite)