Third Time's Not the Charm: Jim Jordan Loses Speaker Vote Again

The House Republican Conference divided itself further today following a third failed vote on Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan's speakership candidacy, with the former Freedom Caucus chair suffering a 210-194-25 vote.

With 25 Republicans declining to offer their support, Jordan lost the support of three additional Republicans, marking his greatest defeat to date. Tuesday saw Jordan lose the speakership by 22 votes, and on Monday, he missed out on the gavel by 20 votes.

"I just know that we need to get a speaker as soon as possible so we can get to work for the American people," Jordan said in a Friday morning press conference before the vote. "Our plan this weekend is to get a speaker elected to the House of Representatives as soon as possible so we can help the American people."

Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Thomas Kean of New Jersey, and Marcus Molinaro of New York all flipped their support for Jordan.

The lawmakers who continued to hold firm in their opposition included Representatives Don Bacon of Nebraska, Vern Buchanan of Florida, Ken Buck of Colorado, Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, Anthony D'Esposito of New York, Mario Díaz-Balart of Florida, Jake Ellzey of Texas, Drew Ferguson of Alabama, Andrew Garbarino of New York, Carlos Giménez of Florida, Tony Gonzales of Texas, Kay Granger of Texas, John James of Michigan, Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, Jen Kiggans of Virginia, Nick LaLota of New York, Mike Lawler of New York, Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, John Rutherford of Florida, Mike Simpson of Idaho, Pete Stauber of Minnesota, and Steve Womack of Arkansas.

Some moderate Republicans have suggested calling a vote to provide Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, whose role is ceremonial, with temporary governing power while the House decides its next speaker.

However, conservative Republicans, many of whom are members of the hard right Freedom Caucus, oppose such a measure, demanding the party rally around their chosen leader in Jordan—despite many of those same members refusing to back Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise who had won the party's speaker nomination prior to Jordan.

"We only had two votes," Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said yesterday prior to Jordan announcing he would go through with a third vote. "I wanted to see it keep going today and find a way to work with the holdouts to get together so that we can continue doing our work. I don't get why this is happening."

Some of the holdouts, many of whom are the party's moderates and dealmakers, have framed their decision as a matter of principle that mentality has been reflected in their commitment to withholding support for Jordan despite some of them receiving death threats.

They do not see why they should be forced to back Jordan after hard right lawmakers ousted their preferred House speaker in Kevin McCarthy, then refused to unify around Scalise who was pushed to bow out of the speaker race.

These lawmakers left a Thursday closed-door meeting with Jordan largely firm in their positions. Republican Congressman Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania spoke to reporters after the meeting and said the conversation wasn't about "concessions or compromise," rather lawmakers relayed the reasons behind their opposition.

"He's going through something that's really a difficult thing to go through," Kelly said. "This guy refuses to lose, and that's okay. I find that to be very good, but there's some point that we're gonna have to move forward, and we can't keep the country shut down because somebody can't accept something."

It remains to be seen how Jordan will respond to his recent loss and whether a third vote will be his last attempt at the speakership. To this point, leadership has obliged his desire to remain in the running, and the Republican Party does not yet seem ready to defy the desires of hard right members by following the wishes of moderates to empower McHenry and return to legislating.