After Jim Jordan’s third attempt to win the speakership failed on Friday with more Republicans opposing him than had before, he was ousted in an internal secret vote. Jordan’s removal has opened the door to a chaotic and crowded race for speaker.
Summary
After Jim Jordan’s third attempt to win the speakership failed on Friday with more Republicans opposing him than had before, he was ousted in an internal secret vote. Jordan’s removal has opened the door to a chaotic and crowded race for speaker.
- Jordan was removed as speaker-designated by a 112-86 vote, a solid rejection by his colleagues just days after he was nominated.
- More than two weeks after the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the failed candidacies of Jordan and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Republicans are no closer to finding a House Speaker who can win the support of 217 members of the conference.
- The absence of McCarthy, Scalise and Jordan from the ballot has created an opportunity for Republicans further down the leadership ladder.
- Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), the House Majority Whip, will be the highest-ranking member of leadership to run and has been endorsed by McCarthy.
- Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), the No. 5 House Republican, will also contest the speaker race. Johnson serves as Vice Chairman of the GOP conference.
- Five other candidates will compete in the speakership race alongside the two members of GOP leadership. Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), the chair of the Republican Study Committee who considered running against Scalise and Jordan, has announced he will stand.
- Backbench Reps. Austin Scott (R-GA), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Pete Sessions (R-TX), and Byron Donalds (R-FL) are also in the running. Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-TX) and Small Business Committee Chair Roger Williams (R-TX) are both considering the race.
- “Representative Jim Jordan was brought down by the revolt of the rule followers, wrote Carl Hulse for the New York Times. “Withstanding intense pressure, a solid bloc of more mainstream Republicans, many with military and executive experience and a desire to legislate rather than blow things up, pulled the party in their direction. They believed that installing Mr. Jordan, a hard-right Ohioan and political brawler, would reward colleagues who had played dirty in unseating Speaker Kevin McCarthy and undermining the candidacy of Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana.”
- CNN provided a recap of the events of the last two weeks: “The showdown over the speakership kicked off earlier this month when a bloc of hardline conservatives voted to remove McCarthy, a historic move that plunged the House into unprecedented territory. Then, in the aftermath of McCarthy’s ouster, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s speakership nomination met a swift downfall when the conference failed to come together on his bid.”
- According to the Washington Post, “Members from opposite ends of the Republican Conference suggested that, now that each wing has taken down the other’s preferred choice in Scalise and Jordan, they might be able to have a fresh start next week with new candidates who do not have long histories in the House.”
- The Wall Street Journal noted “[t]he end of Jordan’s speaker bid marked a rare assertion of power by the House GOP’s more centrist lawmakers and those who want to see the chamber operate, following nine months of intraparty fighting in which small groups of lawmakers often drove the party’s agenda.”
- “We truly don’t deserve you,” wrote Rep. Tom McClintock in a “scathing” letter to the Gaetz 8 after they offered to accept a reprimand, according to the Washington Examiner. “With this in mind,” McClintock added. “I modestly suggest that you plan your martydom in the only way that truly matters: to have the wisdom to see the damage you have done to our country and to have the courage to set things right before it’s too late.”
- Several members told National Review that McCarthy’s endorsement of Emmer would be “the kiss of death for the majority whip’s candidacy.” Some members even think McHenry “is doing McCarthy’s bidding by calling for a weekend recess and drawing the process out in hopes to exhaust everyone and have them turn to McCarthy again.”
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© Dominic Moore, 2023
