— He is the star of conservative media, their darling, says the former speaker and now defected politician Paul Ryan about speaker candidate Jim Jordan.
— But we’ll see. There seem to be enough people protecting the institution (to stop him).
Paul Ryan’s comment to the web magazine Politico puts his finger on perhaps the biggest problem in the speaker chaos in the US House of Representatives right now: the division within the Republicans. The rift runs primarily between the party’s centrist “traditional” members and the more extreme right-wing, Trump-loyal phalanx to which Jim Jordan belongs.
“Puts me in the chamber”
In the past 24 hours, the controversial Jordan has, to say the least, faltered, complicating the fragile attempts to get the House of Representatives out of limbo.
First it was said that he is not running for a planned third speaker vote, but put his candidacy on a form of hiatus. The purpose was to support a proposal to give extended powers to interim Speaker Patrick McHenry, whose only job is to call the vote on a new Speaker. These would apply until January, when Jordan hoped to have gathered enough support to win the Speaker’s election.
But a few hours later, after a stormy party meeting behind closed doors, it was announced that the plan had collapsed due to a lack of support.
And a little later it was said that Jordan’s presidential candidacy was still on – and that a third vote could take place on Friday.
— I intend to stand in the chamber and get the votes and win this fight, Jordan said according to the AP news agency.
More downvotes
It was Jordan and his colleagues on the right flank who, in early October, forced out former speaker Kevin McCarthy in a historic vote. The reason was mainly criticism of McCarthy cooperating with the Democrats to get a budget solution.
Last week, the caucus first nominated Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana for speaker, but he dropped out when it became clear he could not muster enough support.
Jim Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, co-founder of the arch-conservative Freedom Caucus, former wrestler and a person who did not admit that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, stepped forward.
For the past week, Trump loyalist Jordan has bet everything on winning the speakership, which only requires a simple majority. But in the first vote, 20 party members voted against him and in the second as many as 22.
There is no indication that support has increased ahead of a third vote.
The House of Representatives gathers again at 4 p.m. Swedish time. Before that, Jim Jordan plans a press conference.
Current Republican presidential candidate Jim Jordan shakes hands with then-President Donald Trump in Ohio. Stock photography. Attacks and threats
The Republicans have 221 of the chamber’s 433 filled seats (two are vacant), which means that the next speaker must get 217 votes and thus can only “afford” four defections.
In recent days, a rarely seen persuasion campaign signed team Jordan has been going on. Members testify for the news channel CNN about attacks and warning texts, some of them with profanity and death threats. The latter is condemned by Jordan himself as “wrong, and something that shouldn’t happen to anyone”, according to CNN.
In parallel, knives have been sharpened for an alternative solution. Michigan Republican and retired general Jack Bergman has said he is ready to run for president, according to USA Today. Several other names abound.
The Capitol in Washington DC, where Congress has its seat. The clock is ticking
Regardless of the solution, there is urgency. Without the Speaker, the work of the House of Representatives is at a standstill. It’s a big problem when some support for Israel and an aid package for Ukraine are in the works. And on November 17, a new budget solution must be in place, otherwise the US state apparatus risks being shut down.