Ken Tran
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – House Republicans, befallen by disorder and infighting, nominated Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio., for speaker after an internal secret ballot vote behind closed-doors Friday, marking another step towards electing a new leader as the lower chamber is in its 10th day without a speaker.
Jordan, the House Judiciary Committee chair, defeated Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., who made a surprise entrance into the speaker’s race hours earlier as an anti-Jordan alternative.
The conference’s nomination however, is just a formal endorsement from the majority of GOP lawmakers. For Jordan to become speaker, he will still have to rally an overwhelming majority of House Republicans behind him to win a vote on the floor with 217 votes, the magic number needed to get the top job.
It’s uncertain if Jordan will be able to persuade Scott’s supporters to flip ahead of a possible floor vote which could happen as early as Friday afternoon.
Moments after being nominated and just when it appeared GOP lawmakers could elect a new speaker, it became apparent Scalise did not have the support necessary to unite House Republicans, mainly due to his leadership position commonly being viewed as a continuation of the status quo after McCarthy's ouster.
Scalise's opponents instead pushed for Jordan to serve as speaker even though the Ohio Republican lost the nomination. With Scalise dropping out of the race, Jordan is widely perceived to be the most competitive speaker candidate but it is unclear if he can shore up enough support to become the speaker.
Ahead of a looming government shutdown and a key U.S. ally in Israel fighting a quickly intensifying war with Hamas militants, a sense of urgency has arisen within House Republicans to elect a new speaker.
Jordan's potential ascendancy to the speakership would be a significant turn-around for the Ohio Republican who entered Congress in 2007 as a conservative bomb-thrower who was a thorn in the sides of GOP leadership. He was also a co-founding member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and served as the group's first chair.
Also a close ally to former President Donald Trump, Jordan did not vote to certify President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. As chair of the powerful Judiciary Committee, Jordan is one of the few key lawmakers spearheading House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into Biden.
Despite his hard-right conservative credentials, Jordan has slowly drifted toward GOP leadership as an ally, notably supporting McCarthy's speakership bid back in January when the California Republican endured 15 ballots in pursuit of the gavel.
Scott on the other hand entered Congress in 2011 and is considered a rank-and-file member. Scott's candidacy for the speakership reflects the anger and heightened emotions that have taken hold over House Republicans as they seemingly cannot coalesce behind a single leader.
"It makes us look like a bunch of idiots," Scott told CNN about the speaker's race Thursday evening.
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – House Republicans, befallen by disorder and infighting, nominated Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio., for speaker after an internal secret ballot vote behind closed-doors Friday, marking another step towards electing a new leader as the lower chamber is in its 10th day without a speaker.
Jordan, the House Judiciary Committee chair, defeated Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., who made a surprise entrance into the speaker’s race hours earlier as an anti-Jordan alternative.
The conference’s nomination however, is just a formal endorsement from the majority of GOP lawmakers. For Jordan to become speaker, he will still have to rally an overwhelming majority of House Republicans behind him to win a vote on the floor with 217 votes, the magic number needed to get the top job.
It’s uncertain if Jordan will be able to persuade Scott’s supporters to flip ahead of a possible floor vote which could happen as early as Friday afternoon.
A House divided
The divisions within the House Republican conference were on another display Thursday evening when House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., withdrew from the speaker's race despite the conference's formal nomination of him just the day before. Scalise defeated Jordan for the nomination in an internal secret ballot vote of 113-99.Moments after being nominated and just when it appeared GOP lawmakers could elect a new speaker, it became apparent Scalise did not have the support necessary to unite House Republicans, mainly due to his leadership position commonly being viewed as a continuation of the status quo after McCarthy's ouster.
Scalise's opponents instead pushed for Jordan to serve as speaker even though the Ohio Republican lost the nomination. With Scalise dropping out of the race, Jordan is widely perceived to be the most competitive speaker candidate but it is unclear if he can shore up enough support to become the speaker.
Ahead of a looming government shutdown and a key U.S. ally in Israel fighting a quickly intensifying war with Hamas militants, a sense of urgency has arisen within House Republicans to elect a new speaker.
Jordan's potential ascendancy to the speakership would be a significant turn-around for the Ohio Republican who entered Congress in 2007 as a conservative bomb-thrower who was a thorn in the sides of GOP leadership. He was also a co-founding member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and served as the group's first chair.
Also a close ally to former President Donald Trump, Jordan did not vote to certify President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. As chair of the powerful Judiciary Committee, Jordan is one of the few key lawmakers spearheading House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into Biden.
Despite his hard-right conservative credentials, Jordan has slowly drifted toward GOP leadership as an ally, notably supporting McCarthy's speakership bid back in January when the California Republican endured 15 ballots in pursuit of the gavel.
Scott on the other hand entered Congress in 2011 and is considered a rank-and-file member. Scott's candidacy for the speakership reflects the anger and heightened emotions that have taken hold over House Republicans as they seemingly cannot coalesce behind a single leader.
"It makes us look like a bunch of idiots," Scott told CNN about the speaker's race Thursday evening.
