House Republicans again failed to elect a speaker on Wednesday, leaving lawmakers scrambling to fill the chair now vacant entering a third week.

Rep. Jim Jordan, the conservative spending hawk from Ohio, could not garner 217 votes, a simple majority that would have required the support of all but four GOP lawmakers. 

Lawmakers could vote as soon as today on a measure to temporarily fill the vacancy with Rep. Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican who currently serves as emergency speaker. Democrats would want to extract concessions.

The deal to elect Mr. McHenry could include spending legislation to extend government funding and provide aid to both Ukraine and Israel. 

Mr. McHenry, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, is now filling the role as an appointed speaker, but House rules only allow an elected speaker to conduct legislative business. Lawmakers are eager to vote on unfinished spending legislation ahead of a Nov. 17 shutdown deadline and measures in support of Israel’s war against the terrorist group Hamas.

Mr. Jordan was nominated by Rep. Tom Cole, Oklahoma Republican and chair of the powerful House Rules Committee. Mr. Cole praised Mr. Jordan as one of the few lawmakers willing to address reforming entitlement spending, the main driver of the nation’s debt, and called him one of the toughest proponents of fixing the nation’s lax border security.

Mr. Cole called Mr. Jordan “a person whose principal you know, whose actions you can trust and in a time of crisis will respond with the leadership we need.”

It wasn’t enough to flip more than a dozen holdouts. Lawmakers are now eyeing a mid-level Republican leadership member, Mr. McHenry, to get legislative business moving again. 

Mr. McHenry, 47, was elected to the House in 2004 and has served in lower leadership positions including chief deputy whip. 

He’s an ally of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who put his name atop a special list of emergency replacements. It landed him in the role of appointed speaker pro tempore on Oct. 3,  when Mr. McCarthy was ousted in an unprecedented move by eight ultra-conservative Republicans who voted with Democrats.

Democrats are now recoiling at the idea of Speaker Jordan, who they call “an insurrectionist” for questioning the results of the 2020 presidential election and for supporting former President Donald Trump, who continues to insist he was the true winner.

Mr. Jordan is a hardline spending hawk and his stance on slashing government funding legislation left him at odds with some Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee, who again helped to defeat him on Wednesday.

House Democrats voted again for their minority leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who received more votes than Mr. Jordan. Mr. Jeffries told reporters yesterday he would consider cutting a deal with Republicans to elect Mr. McHenry as speaker. 

• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.

• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.