Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) was unable to secure the necessary votes to become the next speaker of the GOP-led House. The first round of voting took place on Tuesday, with Jordan falling short by 12 votes against Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who was the Democrats’ nominee.
The final tally revealed Jordan received 200 votes, while Jeffries secured 212 votes. Interestingly, 20 Republicans chose to vote for other individuals within the GOP.
The announcement of the results was made by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), who is currently serving as speaker pro tempore. He declared no speaker had been elected and subsequently adjourned the House into a recess.
🚨JUST IN: Speaker nominee Jim Jordan releases a statement after todays Speaker vote.
Jim Jordan writes,
We must stop attacking each other and come together.
There’s too much at stake.
Let’s get back to working on the crisis at the southern border, inflation, and helping… pic.twitter.com/avmEnTbX8U
— Ian Jaeger (@IanJaeger29) October 18, 2023
This development comes in the wake of the removal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the speaker position earlier this month.
The urgency to find a replacement has been heightened due to the looming threat of a government shutdown by mid-November without a spending deal and the need to respond to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Jordan, who won the GOP nomination for speaker on his second attempt, had been actively trying to win over a few dozen Republican holdouts who were initially resistant to his candidacy.
Despite his efforts, which included releasing a “Dear Colleague” letter calling for the GOP conference to unite, he was unable to secure enough support from his party members in the first round of voting.
Among the GOP defectors in the first round were several prominent figures including House Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX) and Reps. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Don Bacon (R-NE), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), and others.
These members opted to vote for other candidates, including Scalise, McCarthy, and former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY).
Here’s the list of the holdouts!!! DO YOUR JOBS ‼️. Constituents: 📢📢CALL THEM!!! RT. #SpeakerOfHouse #JimJordan #VoteJordan. pic.twitter.com/Mo3KnCQBYb
— Pam Adkisson (@pamadkisson) October 17, 2023
The House is expected to conduct another round of voting for the speaker position soon. This comes two weeks after lawmakers voted to remove McCarthy from the role he had held since the beginning of the year.
McCarthy secured the speaker’s gavel in the 15th round of voting after making concessions to a small group of Republicans.
Despite this setback, Jordan, who is currently the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, remains a strong contender for the position. After all, he received an endorsement from former President Trump, the GOP frontrunner in the 2024 presidential contest.
The coming days will reveal whether Jordan can rally enough support to secure the speaker’s gavel in the subsequent rounds of voting.
