6 months ago
48
House Republicans may be just hours away from finally ending their weeks-long saga without a party leader — if they can agree on Speaker Jim Jordan.
That's still a big "if." While the Judiciary chair has accumulated a surprising share of GOP support in the last 24 hours, Jordan remains short of the 217 votes needed to hand him the gavel. He currently faces opposition from at least five members, many of whom deeply distrust the right flank of their party that toppled former Speaker Kevin McCarthy two weeks ago.
An aggressive — and not entirely friendly — pressure campaign by Jordan's allies to build support for the speaker hopeful hasn't assuaged detractors' concerns.
“I think some people are so scared of a primary that it shakes them,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), one of the current holdouts, who told Jordan during a Monday meeting that he is a “no.”
Bacon, while stressing that Jordan is “nice” during their conversations, added of the larger conservative effort: “The threats don’t work on me. … I don’t appreciate it.”
Even so, Jordan will press ahead with a House-wide speaker vote at noon, where every member will be forced to stand up one by one on the chamber floor and declare who they support for speaker. Many Jordan allies believe he will land the necessary votes by the end of Tuesday, though they acknowledge it could take multiple ballots.
But some GOP lawmakers believe he may not have the deep backing to last the 15 ballots it took McCarthy back in January. Multiple House Republicans think if Jordan fails to get the needed votes by the third ballot, the Ohio Republican would start losing more support.
Some of the members currently opposed to Jordan, such as Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), have vowed to vote for McCarthy on the floor — though many GOP lawmakers believe the pressure from the rest of the party will lead Gimenez and others to eventually fold.
But while Jordan has picked up critical votes — including previous “never Jordan” Republicans like Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) — he’s facing an entrenched band of opponents that are injecting sustained uncertainty into Tuesday.
“I get the impression the line is holding,” said one House Republican, granted anonymity to discuss internal party dynamics. They noted Monday night that some members gave “tricky answers” when asked if they would support Jordan on a first ballot or subsequent votes.
As part of his bid to win over reluctant support, Jordan has broached the idea of clearing a floor vote on a supplemental spending bill that would provide $6 billion in Ukraine aid and $10 billion to support Israel, according to two House Republicans familiar with the matter. A Jordan spokesman denied that, saying in a statement: “Mr. Jordan has said that we would work to figure out the right approach.”
But one of those members, who spoke on condition of anonymity, perceived it differently: “I was given the impression that we would do — not that we would consider — it in a supplemental.”
It's still unclear if Jordan's efforts were enough to win over his remaining defectors. Tuesday's vote marks the first time members will vote publicly, rather than secret ballot.
A successful speaker vote would cap one of the most chaotic stretches for the modern GOP, after a band of hardliners ousted McCarthy two weeks ago, the first time in history a speaker has ever been forcibly deposed. A group of ultraconservatives then rejected his heir apparent, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), after he secured a simple majority of votes in an internal GOP election. Jordan had initially come in second place, behind Scalise.
