Republicans reject Rep. Jim Jordan for Home speaker on the primary poll, however extra voting doubtless

By LISA MASCARO, FARNOUSH AMIRI and STEPHEN GROVES Related Press

Republicans rejected Rep. Jim Jordan for Home speaker on a primary poll Tuesday, as an unexpectedly quite a few 20 holdouts denied the hard-charging ally of Donald Trump the GOP majority wanted to grab the gavel.

Extra voting is predicted as Jordan works to shore up assist to interchange the ousted Kevin McCarthy for the job however the Home instantly went into recess because the firebrand chief of the GOP’s hard-right flank struggled to take a central seat of U.S. energy.

After two weeks of indignant Republican infighting since McCarthy was eliminated by hard-liners, the Home vote rapidly grew to become a showdown for the gavel. Reluctant Republicans refused to present Jordan their votes, viewing the Ohio congressman as too excessive for the highly effective place of Home speaker, second in line to the presidency.

In all, 212 Democrats voted unanimously for his or her Home chief, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, whereas 200 Republicans voted for Jordan and 20 for another person. Jeffries has no likelihood of successful, and Jordan should decide up most of his GOP foes to win a majority.

The holdouts are a mixture of pragmatists, starting from seasoned legislators and committee chairs frightened about governing to newer lawmakers from districts the place their voters again house want President Joe Biden to Trump.

However with public strain bearing down on lawmakers from Trump’s allies together with Fox Information Channel’s Sean Hannity, it’s unclear how lengthy the holdouts can final. Jordan swiftly flipped dozens of detractors in a matter of days, shoring up Republicans who’ve few choices left.

“Jim Jordan can be an important speaker,” the previous president mentioned exterior the courthouse in Manhattan, the place he’s going through enterprise fraud costs. “I feel he’s going to have the votes quickly, if not right now, over the following day or two.”

The political climb has been steep for Jordan, the combative Judiciary Committee chairman and a founding member of the right-flank Freedom Caucus. He’s recognized extra as a chaos agent than a talented legislator, elevating questions on how he would lead. Congress faces daunting challenges, risking a federal shutdown if it fails to fund the federal government and fielding President Joe Biden’s requests for assist to assist Ukraine and Israel within the wars overseas.

To grab the gavel, Jordan will want nearly the complete majority of his colleagues behind him in a Home flooring vote, as Democrats are sure to again their very own nominee, Chief Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

With the Home Republican majority narrowly held at 221-212, Jordan can afford to lose only some votes to succeed in the 217 majority threshold, if there aren’t any additional absences.

Jordan conferred instantly afterward with McCarthy, who fared practically as badly in January, having misplaced nearly as many votes on the primary of what would develop into 15 ballots for the gavel.

Because the somber roll name was underway, every lawmaker asserting their alternative, the holdouts rapidly surfaced.

One, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a frontrunner of the centrists, voted McCarthy, the ousted former speaker. Murmurs rippled by way of the chamber. Others voted for Majority Chief Steve Scalise, who was the celebration’s first nominee to interchange McCarthy earlier than he, too, was rejected by hardliners final week.

Making the official nominating speech was one other high Trump ally, GOP convention chairwoman Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who drew from the teachings of the Previous Testomony earlier than declaring Jordan can be “We the Folks’s speaker.”

On the opposite facet of the aisle, Democratic caucus chairman Rep. Pete Aguilar of California nominated Jeffries and warned that handing the speaker’s gavel to a “vocal election denier” could be “a horrible message” at house and overseas.

Aguilar recited all of the instances Jordan voted in opposition to varied measures — abortion entry, authorities assist and others, Democrats chanting “He mentioned no!”

Upset {that a} small band of hard-liners have upended the Home by ousting McCarthy, Republicans have watched their majority management of the chamber descend into public infighting. All Home enterprise has floor to a halt.

After a late-evening assembly Monday on the Capitol changed into a venting session of indignant Republicans, Jordan acknowledged: “We’ve acquired a number of extra folks to speak to, hearken to.”

One holdout, Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, mentioned Jordan’s position within the runup to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol and his refusal to confess that Biden, a Democrat, received the 2020 election remained a difficulty.

“Jim, in some unspecified time in the future, if he’s going to guide this convention through the presidential election cycle and significantly in a presidential election yr … goes to must be sturdy and say Donald Trump didn’t win the election and we have to transfer ahead,” Buck mentioned.

However Jordan can depend on Trump’s assist in addition to strain on colleagues from a military of grassroots activists who acknowledge him from cable information and fiery performances at committee hearings. Republicans say it will likely be laborious for rank-and-file lawmakers to oppose him in a public flooring vote.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who engineered McCarthy’s ouster by a handful of hard-liners, publicly praised every lawmaker who has flipped to Jordan’s column — and berated those that haven’t.

“Thanks Rep. Ann Wagner!” Gaetz posted on social media, after the Missouri Republican introduced her assist.

One after the other, others additionally introduced their assist. Nonetheless, it might take a number of rounds throughout Home flooring voting, not in contrast to in January when it took McCarthy 15 ballots to win the gavel.

Democrats have decried the far-right shift, calling Jordan the chief of the chaos wing of the GOP.

Jordan has been a high Trump ally, significantly through the Jan. 6 Capitol assault by the previous president’s backers who had been attempting to overturn the 2020 election he misplaced to Biden. Days later, Trump awarded Jordan a Medal of Freedom.

“Jim Jordan is an insurrectionist who has no place being second in line to the presidency,” mentioned Michael Fanone, a former District of Columbia police officer who was wounded preventing the mob on Jan. 6.

Now the Republican Social gathering’s front-runner to problem Biden within the 2024 election, Trump backed Jordan to interchange McCarthy early on and was working in opposition to the nomination of Scalise, who withdrew final week after colleagues rejected their very own guidelines and did not coalesce round him.

Tensions remained excessive amongst Republicans forward of voting. Rank-and-file Republicans are exhausted by the interior celebration infighting with no different work being carried out in Congress.

Some Republicans resent being pressured by Jordan’s allies and say they’re being threatened with major opponents in the event that they don’t assist him as speaker. One aide mentioned their workplace obtained an electronic mail from Hannity’s crew pushing Jordan.

Others are merely upset on the method the entire course of has dragged out. One, Scalise backer Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., started circulating an choice to present Rep Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., the interim speaker pro-tempore, extra authority to guide.

First elected in 2006, Jordan has few payments to his identify from his time in workplace. He additionally faces questions on his previous. Some years in the past, Jordan denied allegations from former wrestlers throughout his time as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State College who accused him of understanding about claims they had been inappropriately groped by an Ohio physician. Jordan has mentioned he was by no means conscious of any abuse.

Related Press writers Kevin Freking and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.