Breaking: House Fails to Elect Speaker as 20 Republicans Vote Against Jim Jordan
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio failed to get enough votes to claim the speakership on Tuesday as 20 members of his own party refused to vote for him.
Two weeks after Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker in a historic vote, Jordan had emerged as the leading candidate to replace him.
The Ohio Republican needed 217 Republican votes to get the gavel.
Jordan was nominated by Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who called on the GOP conference to elect the House Judiciary Committee chair to help lead the party in opposing the Biden administration’s policies.
🚨 Rep. Elise Stefanik gives speech nominating Jim Jordan for Speaker:
“Jim Jordan will be We the People’s Speaker for such a time as this” pic.twitter.com/zZzbgXr0FK
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 17, 2023
In the first round of voting, House Republican holdouts quickly voted to kill Jordan’s speakership bid.
Some cast ballots for McCarthy while ballots were also cast for Rep. Mike Garcia of California and former House Republican Lee Zeldin.
Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana also received a number of votes.
Jordan could only afford to lose four members of his own party, but the number of those who opposed his speakership bid rose to five and beyond quickly as the votes were tabulated.
7 House GOP JORDAN No Votes:
1.Don Bacon – (R-Neb.) McCarthy
2.Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) – McCarthy
3.Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) – Zeldin
4.Mario Diaz Balart (R-Fl.)– Scalise
5.Jake Ellzey (R-Texas) – Mike Garcia
6.Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) – Zeldin
7. Gimenez (R-Fl.) – McCarthy— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 17, 2023
9 GOP No votes for Jim Jordan thus far:
Bacon – McCarthy
Chavez-DeRemer – McCarthy
D’Esposito – Zeldin
Diaz Balart – Scalise
Ellzey – Garcia
Garbarino – Zeldin
Gimenez – McCarthy
Gonzales – Scalise
Granger – ScaliseHe will not be Speaker after the 1st round https://t.co/mS5zlquJsr
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) October 17, 2023
\
Lawler – McCarthy
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) October 17, 2023
14 Republicans now voting against Rep. Jim Jordan.
— Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) October 17, 2023
BREAKING: Here are the 20 Republicans that just voted against @Jim_Jordan for Speaker on the first ballot:
Bacon (NE)
Buck (CO)
Chavez-Deremer (OR)
D’Esposito (NY)
Diaz-Balart (FL)
Ellzey (TX)
Garbarino (NY)
Gimenez (FL)
Gonzales (TX)
Granger (TX)
James (MI)
Kelly (PA)
Kiggans…— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 17, 2023
Democrats voted in unison to make Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York speaker, but the party did not have enough votes.
Tuesday’s first vote for Jordan was reminiscent of McCarthy’s January bid for the gavel, which took 15 rounds of voting before a compromise was reached to elect him as speaker.
McCarthy was the first House speaker in history to be removed from his position by a motion to vacate in the middle of his term.
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