10/19/2023

Jordan Fails on Second Speaker Vote as Republican Division Grows

His partisan support appears to be weakening

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) failed again Wednesday to win enough Republican support to become the next speaker of the House — prompting increasing calls from both parties to expand the powers of the interim speaker to overcome the GOP’s intraparty morass and move on with legislative matters.

Jordan, who received 200 votes in the first ballot Tuesday, had said he would continue trying to win over the 20 colleagues who had opposed him. In the only round of balloting on Wednesday, however, he lost support overall, ending up with 199 votes. He flipped only two Republican votes and lost four of his colleagues, most of whom are pragmatic lawmakers focused on governing and allies of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who initially defeated Jordan for the party’s nomination last week.

Afterward, a spokesman for Jordan vowed the Ohio Republican would "keep going," even as it was unclear what his path to the necessary votes would be. Later, Jordan said lawmakers would reconvene Thursday instead of continuing to vote Wednesday night.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.