Jim Jordan’s quest to be the next House Speaker continues.
On Thursday, Jordan, who was endorsed by President Trump to become the new Speaker, initially told reporters he would not call for a third vote after failing to get the needed 217 votes in his first two tries.
At the time, Jordan said he would back a move to empower House Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry until January, which will give him more time to secure enough votes to be elected.
BREAKING: Jim Jordan is OUT!
Jim Jordan has conceded, at least for now and will not hold a third ballot for the speakership.
Jordan states that he will be backing Patrick McHenry as an interim speaker until January.
It will be interesting to see if Republicans alone can get… pic.twitter.com/VSmwySoW1p
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) October 19, 2023
A majority of House Republicans were not happy about the plan to temporarily empower McHenry.
From an earlier Fox News report:
“Oh, Hell no. Hades no,” Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, told reporters when asked about it. Fallon estimated that two-thirds of the Republican conference also don’t back the plan.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital he was “opposed” to it as well. He called the plan the creation of a “Democrat-deal speaker” on X.
“It’s now time to get a speaker. And I realized it hasn’t been successful. But it’s time for us to work. It’s got to be done in the Republican caucus,” Norman said.
Both had been supporting Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, for speaker. Jordan failed to clinch a 217-vote majority on two rounds of voting so far, and an expected third round was never formally set as House Republicans huddle for hours behind closed doors trying to plot a path forward.
A few hours later, Jordan told reporters that he plans on pressing on with his bid to become the next speaker of the House.
🚨 BREAKING: Jim Jordan: “I'm still running for speaker and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race, but I want to go talk to a few of my colleagues..”
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 19, 2023
From CBS News:
Republicans met on Capitol Hill to chart a path forward after Jordan fell short of the 217 votes needed to become speaker in the first two rounds of voting earlier in the week. Plans for a third vote earlier in the day were abandoned. Jordan told colleagues he would support a proposal to allow Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry to oversee the House until January while he remained in the race and tried to muster support.
But that idea was met with stiff opposition from dozens of GOP lawmakers and Jordan soon reversed course, saying he would instead move forward with another floor vote, perhaps as early as Thursday.
“We made the pitch to members on the resolution as a way to lower the temperature and get back to work. We decided that wasn’t where we’re going to go,” he told reporters. “I’m still running for speaker and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race.”
The Ohio Republican said he wants to “talk with the 20 individuals who voted against me so that we can move forward and begin to work for the American people.” He met with the holdouts on Capitol Hill, and said the party is “trying to get unified as soon as we can.”
Hopefully, Jordan will get the 217 votes he needs to become the Speaker.
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