Dysfunction Junction; "Only We Can Fix It"
Jordan faces third House speaker vote amid continuing chaos
A group of House Republicans supporting a controversial proposal that would expand the power of a temporary speaker saw their hopes of reopening the chamber almost immediately dissipate Thursday as the conference struggles to coalesce around a permanent choice for speaker of the House.
The crippling dysfunction of the Republican conference has kept the House without a speaker for nearly three weeks, an unprecedented stretch of time ahead of must-pass deadlines to fund the government and other expiring priorities before the end of the year. Bitter divisions — both personal and political in nature — have played out in public and in heated conference meetings since a faction of hard-right Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as House speaker earlier this month.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the conference’s current speaker-designate, has lost two votes on the House floor in his effort to clinch the gavel. On Thursday, he agreed to support a resolution that would have empowered Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.) to temporarily perform the functions of speaker until Jan. 3, 2024. Doing so would have allowed Jordan to remain the conference’s nominee for speaker, try to corral support back into his corner and call up a vote for his speaker candidacy once he had the necessary 217 Republican votes.
But after a significant number of his far-right colleagues balked at the idea in a tense, hours-long meeting, Jordan reversed course from earlier in the day. He abandoned his support for empowering McHenry and announced he would hold a third vote Friday on his candidacy for speaker.
“We made the pitch to members on the resolution as a way to lower the temperature and get back to work. We decided that wasn’t where we’re going to go,” Jordan said. “I’m still running for speaker, and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race. But I want to go talk with a few of my colleagues.”
That support is unlikely to come. Several Republicans had already planned on voting against Jordan in a third round, with many of his own supporters admitting Jordan will never get the 217 votes needed to become speaker of the House.
“I think he’d be the most effective speaker we have, but he can’t get there. That’s the fact,” said Rep. Troy E. Nehls (R-Tex.), a Jordan supporter. Still, Nehls doesn’t support empowering McHenry and wants Republicans to “stay here until we get it done.”
Later Thursday, Jordan, McCarthy, McHenry and Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), a key ally, met with 12 of the holdouts in what became an airing of grievances, according to two people familiar with the meeting who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private meeting. No one’s mind was changed into supporting Jordan, and Jordan did not react when members pressed it would be best if he stepped aside.
The push to empower a temporary speaker appeared to be the first potential pathway to ensuring the House could legislate as the party works to overcome its issues. The backup plan had gained steam after Jordan decided Thursday morning to call off another round of balloting as his opposition grew.
He announced his decision to the Republican conference Thursday morning in a closed meeting, but the proposal was quickly rejected. Some Republicans wanted to put the resolution up for a vote on the House floor only if a majority of them approved it in conference. Another group wanted Jordan to drop out before getting behind the resolution.
Several Republicans asked Jordan whether he would step down, a question he skirted. Others wanted the eight members who voted to oust McCarthy to apologize and renominate him as speaker.
Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Tex.) stood up and reminded Jordan that during the candidate forum last week with Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), both candidates had pledged to remove themselves from the speaker race if they could not clinch the necessary 217 GOP votes, according to two people familiar with the interaction.
McCarthy endorsed the resolution to empower McHenry, his close friend who he tapped as Speaker Pro Tempore using a post-9/11 rule to ensure the continuity of government. But he was pressed by Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Tex.) about whether Jordan should be a statesman like him and Scalise, two Republican leaders who stepped aside when they realized they did not have enough support to continue running for speaker.
Jordan showed a rare moment of apparent befuddlement and exasperation from an actor who exemplifies cocksureness. It’s a moment somewhat reminiscent of when Jordan struggled to explain his conversations with then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. As then, there didn’t seem to be a good answer Jordan felt he could provide or a way to explain any of this.
If there’s a moment that crystallizes this whole chaotic drama, it’s surely that one: the party’s would-be leader just asking for some time by calling an audible, only to have his own conference blitz and leave him under a pile of bodies.
