House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) won the nomination for speaker in conference, and the vote was not convincing enough to go to the floor right away, so the House adjourned for the weekend to give him enough time to shore up support.
Jordan emerged as the party’s nominee after a secret ballot vote on Friday in which the Ohio Republican bested Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) in a closed-door election. But, the Ohio Republican’s victory was anything but convincing as he only gained 26 more votes from when he ran earlier this week. Scott, who announced he was running just one hour before the candidate forum, got 81 votes.
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On a separate ballot, after he won the nomination, members were posed the question of whether they would “support Jordan on the floor?” That ballot came out with a result of 152 yes votes, 55 no votes, and one person voting present.
This is the most concerning tally for Jordan because even if he were able to convince half those holdouts to switch their vote, he would still not be anywhere near the support necessary to get the 217 number needed to become speaker.
“I think he has a very, very difficult task ahead of him,” Rep. Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL), who does not support Jordan, said, referencing the gap between where Jordan is and where he needs to be. “That’s a really big mountain.”
Members are expected to reconvene for votes on choosing their next speaker as early as 6 p.m. on Monday, according to a whip notice sent to lawmakers. In the meantime, Jordan is expected to contact holdouts within his own party in an effort to secure the 217 votes needed to be elected speaker on the floor.
“There are some broken trust issues within the conference, and we have some work to do,” said Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) after the vote. “But [Jordan] needs the weekend to really work the phones and talk to people and work out those issues.”
As a result, Jordan faces an uphill climb to convince centrist Republicans to back his nomination since several of Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s (R-LA) supporters, as well as some of Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA), have indicated they will not support him in the race or vote for him on the floor.
“Jordan won’t get the votes, I don’t know if anybody can get the votes,” said Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL). “A lot of members that are in, you know, D+5 or R+5 and been around for a long time. Yeah, they remember [his past], he’s got a voting record.”
Still, some lawmakers expressed optimism that Jordan can secure the majority votes needed on the floor, predicting he will become speaker as early as next week.
“I’m excited,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) said. “He got 152 on the secret ballot. That’s good. It’s different when you get to the House floor. … It’s time to elect Jim Jordan as speaker.”
A handful of members disagreed with the decision to adjourn for the weekend, pushing party leaders to call a House vote as early as possible. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) made repeated calls to GOP leaders to either bring the motion to the floor or allow lawmakers to leave for the weekend, while others echoed they would prefer to hold the vote as soon as possible.
“Personally, I think we should stay and finish this, but it’s up to him and I’m going to respect his decision,” said Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), adding that he believes Jordan can get 217 votes on the floor but that “there’s a lot of work that’s got to be done in a short amount of time.”
But Jordan wants to take the weekend to try and whip the holdouts into his corner and figure out how he will navigate the path to 217 votes.
“I think Jordans got some work to do, and that’s why what he wanted to do was go and try to meet with members and have those dialogue over the weekend,” Rep. French Hill (R-AR) said.
It’s no certainty that Jordan taking the weekend to help garner support can get him to 217. While he might have the support of the majority of the conference, he’s a ways away from closing the gap.
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However, it’s not certain that Jordan can secure the votes needed over the weekend, especially as some members have come out in staunch opposition to his speakership bids such as Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), who both said they would never vote for Jordan. And, after the vote in conference, which showed he is miles away from the support he needs to become speaker, Jordan has his work cut out for him.
“Jim Jordan strapped on the suicide vest and members called his bluff,” one House GOP staffer told the Washington Examiner.
