Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, the current Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was not able to raise enough support to get the 217 votes required to become the next Speaker of the House on Tuesday. That’s probably not too unexpected given the vast majority of Republicans were none too happy with Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for leading the charge against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy a couple of weeks ago. Gaetz is a big supporter of Jordan’s so it doesn’t seem so far fetched to think that Republicans were lashing out at him by not voting in favor of his mentor.
Which is a shame, isn’t it? Look at the level of in-fighting happening in conservative circles right now, at what might be the most pivotal point in American history with our republic hanging in the balance. We don’t have time for this kind of garbage. The GOP needs to pull its collective head out of its backside and focus all efforts on defeating Democrats, President Joe Biden, and the deep state element within the government.
According to the Daily Wire, “In a House floor vote that began in the early afternoon, 20 Republicans refused to back Jordan. The C-SPAN tally showed Jordan getting 200 votes, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) getting 212 votes, and ‘other’ getting 20 votes.”
In order for a candidate to be made the Speaker of the House they must secure a simple majority.
There are two options available to the House at this point in time. They could go right ahead and do another vote, or they could try going a different direction altogether. Whatever they plan to do, they better not continue wasting time as we could potentially be headed for a government shutdown by the middle of November if some sort of spending deal isn’t made, not to mention there are many members of the House who want to take action to provide assistance for Israel in the midst of their battle against Hamas terrorists.
“Some have floated giving Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), who is serving as speaker pro tempore, expanded powers to get legislative business done in the short term. Others have suggested a consensus candidate with bipartisan support,” the report revealed. “Jordan won the GOP nomination for speaker in his second try on Friday after the party’s first nominee, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), dropped out before a House floor vote could happen as he faced opposition from a small group of Republicans.”
“Jordan has been working to woo a couple dozen Republican holdouts who have been resistant to his candidacy, but failed to lock the support of enough Republicans in the first round of voting. GOP defectors picked other people, including Scalise, McCarthy, and former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY),” the Daily Wire continued.
So who are the list of holdouts?
House Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX) and Reps. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Don Bacon (R-NE), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Jenn Kiggans (R-FL), Nick LaLota (R-NY), Mike Lawler (R-NY), John Rutherford (R-FL), Mike Simpson (R-ID), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Steve Womack (R-AR), John James (R-MI), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Ken Buck (R-CO), and Victoria Spartz (R-IN).
Hopefully this issue will be resolved soon and whoever is finally chosen to take over the speakership will be a man or woman of integrity, willing to stand on conservative principles and not compromise their values for the sake of appeasing politicians and ensuring their own reelection. Principles before power, people before politics.