Jim Jordan looks to overcome holdouts as House gears up for second speakership vote
Will today be the day Republicans get it together and elect a new speaker of the House of Representatives? All that can be said for sure is that lawmakers will convene at 11am eastern time and cast ballots for the second day straight, and staunch conservative Jim Jordan will try to claim the 217 votes he needs to win the gavel. Other than that, it’s all up in the air. Yesterday, 20 GOP lawmakers said no to Jordan, including moderates representing swing districts. That’s a big number, and it’s unclear if Jordan has managed to change minds in the hours since that vote was held.
If Jordan is rejected again in today’s vote, it will up the pressure on the GOP to find someone else to fill the chair that Kevin McCarthy was forced out of two weeks ago by rightwing insurgents and Democratic acquiescence. But who? This morning, Punchbowl News reported that Republican congressman David Joyce will file a motion to give acting speaker Patrick McHenry full powers. We’ll see if that goes anywhere.
Here’s what else is happening today:
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Joe Biden is in Israel, where he said a deadly hospital blast yesterday was “done by the other team”. Follow our live blog for more on this.
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Donald Trump yesterday said he would appeal the limited gag order a federal judge imposed on him earlier this week in the election subversion case.
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New polling from the University of Virginia finds significant shares of Americans interested in radical political ideas such as states seceding from the union and alternatives to democracy.
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GOP House member opposed to Jim Jordan told me opposition to his candidacy will grow, especially if it goes to a third round — potentially 25 Rs voting against him.⁰⁰“The opposition is organized. We’re in tight comms, unified, and growing,” the member said
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 18, 2023
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Every day that the House remains dysfunctional is another day the pressure rises on Republicans to find their way out of this mess. Over the past few hours, two influential conservatives have seized on a novel solution: expand the powers of Patrick McHenry, who took over as acting speaker following Kevin McCarthy’s ouster, to allow the chamber to pass legislation.
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“If the House Republicans cannot resolve the speakership in the next few days, they may be better off to empower Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry with the job of running the House through at least the end of the year,” former Republican speaker of the House Newt Gingrich wrote in a column yesterday.
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The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, an influential voice among conservatives, was also supportive, pointing to the pressing need for the House to stop a government shutdown that is weeks away, and decide whether to send more aid to Israel and Ukraine.
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“The people’s House always includes some unserious characters, but now it has serious work to do. One option is to pull the Patrick McHenry emergency lever, which is to say, temporarily expand the Speaker Pro Tempore’s remit to cover a limited agenda,” they wrote.
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“Mr. McHenry doesn’t seem to want the job, and at this point what sane person would? But he’s well respected, and he could be convinced to do it for the good of the country.”
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As Punchbowl News reported this morning, Ohio Republican David Joyce is expected to today introduce a motion to make McHenry speaker. As with everything in this unruly House, it may not go anywhere, but it will be an idea t