Jim Jordan of Ohio faced defeat in the House speakership race on Friday as his Republican colleagues voted against his continued bid for the seat. This secret ballot vote marked his third failed attempt to gain enough support for the position.
Jordan’s loss followed a controversial week on Capitol Hill, during which he and his supporters tried to persuade more moderate Republicans to back him.
Related: Jim Jordan loses third House speaker vote as Republican holdouts reach 25
Following his defeat, Jordan informed reporters that he would “go back to work” and emphasized the need for unity.
It remains uncertain whom Republicans will nominate next as their candidate for the speakership. Candidates must announce their interest in the position by Sunday at noon. The conference is expected to reconvene on Monday evening to hear from potential speakership candidates, with the vote scheduled for Tuesday. This means that the House will have been without a speaker for three weeks, hindering its ability to carry out its elected duties.
Some moderate Republicans advocate for a consensus candidate, while the far-right faction that removed former speaker Kevin McCarthy previously stated that they would be willing to accept censure, suspension, or removal from the conference in order to secure Jordan as the speaker.
Several Republican House members have expressed their intentions to run for the speakership or are considering it. Among the contenders, Tom Emmer from Minnesota, currently the majority whip and the No. 3 Republican in the chamber, enjoys McCarthy’s support. Other potential candidates include Kevin Hern from Oklahoma, Austin Scott from Georgia, Byron Donalds from Florida, Mike Johnson from Louisiana, and Jack Bergman from Michigan.
In the initial floor vote of the speakership election held on Tuesday, 20 House Republicans dissented against Jordan, leaving him far short of the required 217 votes. Due to the tight majority of Republicans in the House, Jordan could only afford four defections within his conference and still secure the speakership.
Despite Jordan’s efforts to address the concerns of moderates, a second floor vote on Wednesday revealed an increase in opposition, with 22 Republicans opposing his candidacy. By the third vote on Friday, Jordan lost more support, as 25 House Republicans voted against him.
As long as the House remains without a speaker, it cannot progress with any legislation, leaving members unable to pass important bills such as a stopgap government funding measure or an aid package for Israel and Ukraine. Government funding is set to expire in less than a month, raising the possibility of a federal shutdown next month.
Jordan’s announcement came two weeks after the historic removal of McCarthy, when eight House Republicans joined Democrats in supporting a motion to vacate the chair. Following McCarthy’s ousting, the House majority leader, Steve Scalise from Louisiana, initially won his party’s nomination for speaker but withdrew from the race last week due to entrenched opposition from hard-right lawmakers.
As of Friday, it remained unclear how Republicans could overcome the standoff and resume House business. One proposal suggested by centrist Democrats and supported by some of Jordan’s critics involved expanding the powers of the acting speaker, Republican Patrick McHenry from North Carolina, but this plan failed to gain traction. Such a solution would raise significant constitutional concerns, as the authority of an acting speaker is ambiguous.
With Republicans embroiled in conflict, Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader from New York, has repeatedly called for the formation of a bipartisan governing coalition between Democrats and more moderate Republicans. Even Jordan’s staunch opponents have rejected the idea of cooperating with Democrats, although this stance could change if the House remains at a stalemate.
On Friday, Jeffries, who has received the most votes in the speakership votes but lacks sufficient support due to being in the minority, urged his Republican colleagues to get to work. “Embrace bipartisanship and abandon extremism,” Jeffries stated.
