House Republicans voted Friday afternoon to use Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan as speaker-designate as the lower house of Congress reached the 10-day mark without finding a replacement for ousted Kevin McCarthy.
In a closed vote, Jordan (R-Ohio) defeated Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), who had only announced his candidacy four hours earlier, 124-81.
Jordan also won a second vote to determine who would support him from the House floor, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) told The Post, with a slightly higher 152-55 poll for the Judiciary chairman.
No speaker vote is expected on the House floor until Monday evening at the earliest.
Scott called for unity when speaking to reporters following his loss to Jordan, saying he would increase support for an eventual floor vote.
Now, founding members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus have the unenviable task of holding together a conference torn apart by bad feelings and backbiting since McCarthy became the first speaker voted in by his peers on Oct. 3.
But Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) assured The Post that the speaker nominee will get a vote.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise spoke to reporters as he announced that he is ending his campaign to become the next AP speaker
“That’s part of the reason the representatives are going home. Jim has people to talk to, he knows who he needs to talk to, he’ll get it done,” Mast said.
He added that there would be no further conference discussions and that all the tangles should be resolved openly.
“It’s always possible that someone throws out another name — Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump, or whatever they say — but I don’t expect another candidate’s forum or the speaker’s race to go behind closed doors,” Mast said.
“Dad was an old World War II marine, and he would talk about sometimes getting out of that landing craft,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) reflected. “The guy in front will get it, the second guy might get hurt, and usually the third guy will go to the beach.”
Still other members expressed concern about the tallying of votes.
Former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy made a statement after United States House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced he would drop out of the race for Speaker of the House. Annabelle Gordon – CNP / MEGA
“I think it will be higher,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) told reporters, noting Jordan’s failure to unite more of the conference.
“Personally, I think we should stay and finish this, but it’s up to him.”
Asked if speaker pro tem Patrick McHenry (R-NC) would have to step in to resolve the interim issue, Donalds added: “We’re not going to do any kind of coalition government around here. We are not the European Parliament. We are the United States.”
Friday’s all-conference meeting, the third in 24 hours, was called after Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) withdrew as speaker-designate on Thursday afternoon, telling reporters that it was clear he did not have the support among his colleagues to reach the gavel.
Jordan, whom Scalise defeated 113-99 in early voting Wednesday, has pledged to support the Louisianan on the House floor.
Rep. Jim Jordan is seen at the House Republican Conference speaker selection meeting after he was voted in as the party’s candidate for speaker of the house at the Longworth Building.CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Current and former GOP members of the House of Representatives united in leadership but did not take questions from the press following the vote, with Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) being the first publicly congratulated Ohio Republicans on his nomination.
McCarthy appeared upbeat before heading into the vote, telling reporters he would support Jordan but that the Justice chairman should “be prepared for the process of being speaker,” hinting at a repeat of his own 15-round battle on the House floor in January to win a vote.
He also took some shots again at Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who led the effort to oust him last week, said, “I don’t think it’s right that every Democrat voted to create chaos and 4% of Republicans join them.”
At one point in the discussion, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) moved to renominate McCarthy, who received “overwhelming support” from conference members before the former speaker asked them to refrain from putting his name on the ballot, the House GOP. an aide told The Post.
The order did not deter McCarthy loyalists such as Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) of post on X after the meeting that he’s “still OK. Just Kevin — he should never have been eliminated in the first place.”
Rep. Jim Jordan speaks to reporters as House members reconvene behind closed doors to find a way to choose a new speaker after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise was dropped from the race.AP
“As a firefighter, I can tell you there was no white smoke today,” Gimenez said. “Our Congress is still without a Speaker of the House, as 8 Republicans join all Democrats to plunge our country into chaos.”
Some members are also beginning to voice concerns that the longer the speakership race drags on, the more opportunities House Democrats will have to capitalize on GOP caucus disruption.
“These people want to be the minority,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who serves in a vulnerable GOP district, told CNN about his fellow lawmakers. “I think they prefer that because they can just vote ‘no’ and scream and scream all the time. But governing you have to work together.”
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) endorsed Scalise for the speaker nomination — and told reporters that Jordan would not get his vote on the House floor.
“We need to find someone who can really bring us together, really lead us,” Diaz-Balart said.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks to press amid another GOP caucus at Longworth House.ZUMAPRESS.com
“Today, I voted to support Jim Jordan as speaker. He’s a great American with strong conservative values, but I’m not sure if he’s truly the independent thinker and visionary leader that we need to deliver for the American people,” said Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) late Friday. statement.
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“After witnessing all the behind-the-scenes politics, backstabbing, belittling, top-down attitudes and statements made by former Speaker McCarthy and his allies in today’s conference, I will have to judge on Monday if Jim is the right person to be held accountable to the standard the same as Kevin, or just another dummy for the swamp with a better bio. I am also very disappointed that we were sent home without reconciling this issue.”
The House cannot conduct other business until a speaker is elected, making the floor vote an urgent issue given the outbreak of war in the Middle East and the prospect of a partial government shutdown on Nov. 17.
All day Friday, rumors swirled on Capitol Hill that a handful of members of the House of Representatives might reach some kind of deal with Democrats to choose a speaker that works for both parties.
But Brooklyn and Staten Island representative Nicole Malliotakis scoffed at the idea, calling it “ridiculous.”
“The time to become two parties was last week,” he told reporters.
“This should never have happened … If Democrats cared about this institution, they would never have sided with the right wing to remove our speaker and stop Congress. So they are just as complicit as the eight Republicans who decided to overturn the will of 97% of the conference.
“So if they want to be bipartisan, that time has come and gone.”
A lone Democrat who paused to speak with reporters criticized the notion, saying a bipartisan House vote is imminent no matter what.
“That’s ultimately about where we’re going to be after spinning our wheels for two weeks, or three, or four,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.).
“It’s not our fault the Republicans can’t agree on themselves, and they’ll eventually work with us on a bipartisan solution,” he added, pointing to the debt ceiling negotiations earlier this year. “You can write the script now, just fill in some numbers later.”
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