TO UPDATE: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) continued to lose ground in his bid to become the next Speaker of the House.
The vote resulted in 210 votes for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and 194 for Jordan. To become chairman, a majority of 215 votes was needed.
“We have no speaker for the seventeenth day in a row, which means we don’t have a functioning House of Representatives, which means we don’t have a functioning legislature,” CNN’s Jake Tapper told viewers.
About 25 House Republicans voted against Jordan, three more than in Wednesday’s vote against him and five more than in Tuesday’s primary recall vote. His strategy is based on the idea that support on every ballot will dominate, as was the case when Kevin McCarthy stayed in the race in January before finally being elected on the 15th ballot.
Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry (R-NC) received six votes, underscoring some GOPers’ preference to name him interim speaker.
As he left the room, McCarthy told CNN’s Manu Raju that it was up to Jordan to decide what to do next. The former speaker of the House said Republicans plan to hold a conference this afternoon.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told reporters afterward that the eight Republicans who voted to impeach McCarthy were willing to face censure or even suspension from the conference if it was the “pound of flesh.” is that the objectors in Jordan want to vote for him. . Gaetz led the effort to get rid of McCarthy.
EARLIER: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) tried to change the minds of 22 Republican holdovers blocking his path to the House presidency today, but there was little sign he was getting any closer to taking the leadership job.
In fact, the acrimony and tension only seemed to increase over the week, as some opponents of his candidacy complained of receiving death threats and intimidation, fueled by a right-wing media pressure campaign. On Thursday, CNN played a profanity-filled voicemail message addressed to the wife of an unidentified Republican incumbent.
Jordan tried to persuade members with an 11-minute news conference in the Capitol’s Rayburn Room against a backdrop of American flags. He spoke of the urgency to elect a speaker and reopen the House, but dismissed the idea that he was causing additional delays by refusing to resign. “There were several rounds of speakers,” he said.
Since 427 members were present for the third ballot, Jordan needs 214 votes to win the speakership.
At the press conference, Jordan also refused to back down from his position that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries seized on Jordan’s comments, telling reporters that Jordan is a “clear and present danger.”
Reporters on Capitol Hill are at a loss for superlatives to describe the level of discord that has paralyzed the Republican conference, underscored Thursday when members shouted at each other during a four-hour meeting. A member has blocked another member on X/Twitter.
“This is a fight between the institutionalists and the Trump populists,” former House Speaker Charlie Dent (R-PA) said on CNN.
Source: Deadline
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
