Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) lost the third round of the House speaker election Friday, shedding three additional votes hours after he suggested the House would press forward with the contest through the weekend until a speaker is chosen.
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) leaves the House chamber after the House of Representatives failed to ... [+]
Jordan received 194 votes Friday, while all 210 Democrats present voted for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and a slew of other candidates received 25 votes.
Jordan did not manage to flip any votes Friday, and three Republicans who voted for him previously—Reps. Marc Molinaro (N.Y.), Tom Kean (N.J.) and Kevin Fitzpatrick (Pa.)—cast their ballots for other candidates.
Six Republicans cast their ballots for Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), including four who previously voted for former speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who earned two votes.
“We’re in a very bad place right now,” McCarthy told reporters following Friday’s third round of voting.
Jordan suggested the House would continue voting through the weekend and expressed confidence he would flip additional votes in a press conference hours before Friday’s election. “There’s been multiple rounds of votes for speaker before,” he said, nodding to the January speaker election, when McCarthy was selected after 15 rounds of voting.
Republicans are expected to hold a 1 p.m. meeting to discuss next steps, including whether to select an alternative nominee, according to multiple reports.
The House has been locked in a stalemate for nearly three weeks as Republicans have failed to coalesce behind a candidate for speaker to replace McCarthy. The GOP nominated Jordan last week as speaker designate, effectively handing him control of the election process, after Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the GOP’s initial nominee, dropped out of the race. With a narrow 221-212 GOP majority in the House, Jordan—a far-right firebrand and close ally of former President Donald Trump—can afford to lose only four GOP votes to win the gavel. Twenty Republicans voted against him Tuesday and 22 voted against him Wednesday.
Jordan Suggests House Could Vote Through Weekend If Speaker Not Chosen Friday (Forbes)
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House Speaker Election: Jim Jordan Loses Second Round As More Republicans Vote Against Him (Forbes)