GOP Drops Jordan as Speaker Nominee After He Bleeds Even More Support on Third Ballot

This story was updated at 3:42 P.M. E.D.T.Congressman Jim Jordan is no longer the GOP’s nominee for Speaker after he lost his third consecutive vote to take the House leadership role, after he saw the support of three more colleagues slip away between the second and third rounds of voting. Mr. Jordan won just 194 votes from the Republican conference during the floor vote on Friday, the lowest vote total for any majority party speaker nominee in history. He suffered 25 defections from within the GOP, up from 22 anti-Jordan votes in the second round on Wednesday and 20 defections during the first round on Tuesday. The minority leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, won the support of all 210 Democrats who were present. The three newest members to changed their votes to someone other than Mr. Jordan all come from districts won by President Biden in 2020 — Congressman Tom Kean of New Jersey, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Congressman Marc Molinaro of New York. In a statement released just before he voted, Mr. Kean said that he had voted for Mr. Jordan in the first two rounds because he believed there would be some negotiating behind the scenes that could get the Ohio firebrand over the finish line, though that has not played out. “With great respect, it has become evident that Chairman Jordan does not and will not have the votes to become Speaker,” he wrote. Congressman Marc Molinaro has joined many of his Republican colleagues in supporting the empowerment of the speaker pro tempore, Congressman Patrick McHenry, as the speaker of the House. The temporary measure would allow the House to pass legislation — which unless rules are changes is not permitted when there is no speaker. Prior to Mr. Jordan being dropped as the nominee, Mr. Molinaro told reporters that he will “certainly be advocating for temporary empowerment of the speaker pro tempore,” which would “allow the conference to decompress, reorganize, but most importantly, allow us to get back to work.” Yet leaders of the GOP conference, including the majority leader, Congressman Steve Scalise, and the majority whip, Congressman Tom Emmer, have said they would not support such a plan. A number of members who had been voting against Mr. Jordan’s speakership candidacy said they were receiving death threats from his supporters. Congresswoman Marianette Miller-Meeks, who supported Mr. Jordan during the first round but switched on the second ballot, said in a statement that she has “received credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls. … One thing I cannot stomach, or support is a bully.”Another one-time supporter of Mr. Jordan, who changed his vote on the second ballot, Congressman Drew Ferguson, said the death threats have gotten so severe that he has had to ask local law enforcement in his Georgia hometown to escort his daughter to and from school. Shortly after casting that vote against Mr. Jordan, he said, his “family and I started receiving death-threats. That is simply unacceptable, unforgivable, and will never be tolerated.”Mr. Jordan’s support was seen to be dwindling even further if he pushed for more floor votes, according to members of the GOP conference who spoke with the Sun.

GOP Drops Jordan as Speaker Nominee After He Bleeds Even More Support on Third Ballot

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