20 October 2023
The Republican conference voted Friday to no longer back House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as Speaker.
The secret ballot vote came hours after Jordan’s third failed ballot on the House floor. He had lost GOP support with each successive vote.
The floodgates opened almost immediately.
Moments after the vote, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, announced his candidacy for Speaker. He had floated it but ultimately decided against a run earlier this month.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) is making calls for a run for Speaker, a source familiar tells The Hill. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) is running for Speaker, according a spokesperson for his office.
And Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) told reporters he’s seriously considering running for Speaker and is still praying on it.
Friday marks the latest drama in the more than two-week saga since eight House Republicans joined with Democrats to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Oct. 3.
Jordan was the GOP’s second shot at Speaker replacement. It had first narrowly nominated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) for the post, but resistance to his candidacy — mostly from Jordan supporters — forced him to withdraw a day later.
Scalise said Friday he would not mount another bid for Speaker.
Jordan said he told his colleagues, “It was an honor to be their speaker designee. But I felt it was important that we all — we all know an answer to the question, do they want me to continue in that role. And so we put the question to them and they made a decision.”
He also said he told the conference that “we need to come together and figure out who our Speaker is going to be and I’m going to work as hard as I can to help that individual so that we can go help the American people.”
Jordan’s decision leaves the House in chaos and stuck amid a war between Israel and Hamas and a looming shutdown deadline.
Republican lawmakers said they would hold a candidate forum Monday and a secret ballot election for a new Speaker nominee Tuesday. The deadline to declare a candidacy for Speaker is noon Sunday.
“We need space and time for candidates to talk to other members,” Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) said.
But it’s not clear at this point who could win over 217 Republicans.
“Certainly you have to work hard,” said Hern, who voted for Jordan on all three ballots. “It’s gonna require 217 and when you look at what they’ve done, you always learn from the previous candidates, what worked and what didn’t work. And again, as I said, the first week when Speaker McCarthy was moved aside, that, you know, we needed to work for unity and unity was only having two candidates in a race.
“I think our delegation needs to have somebody who wants to work to unite them, brings a different perspective, and that will be what I bring.”
McCarthy said after the secret ballot vote that he was concerned about who would succeed him.
“On a very serious note, this is talking about that person third in line to the presidency, and the furthest step anybody takes us from the front row to the podium,” McCarthy told reporters.
He added of Scalise and Jordan, “I hope we have some other people up for the job. They both could have done the job.”
Updated at 3:07 p.m.