© Reuters
By David Morgan, Moira Warburton and Katharine Jackson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Outspoken conservative Jim Jordan will take a second shot at the top job in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday but also said the chamber should vote on another option to allow legislation to move forward if he falls short again.
Jordan said the House should hold a second vote to fill the vacant speaker’s chair on Wednesday, giving him another chance to win the needed 217 votes.
He also called for a vote on a scenario floated by Democrats and some Republicans that would give increasing power to Representative Patrick McHenry, who has been temporarily filling the speaker’s chair for the 16 days the House has been without a leader.
That could allow Congress to respond to crises in the Middle East and Ukraine and fund the government past Nov. 17, when current funding is due to expire.
“We’ve got to decide today,” Jordan told reporters. “Both questions should be called. Let’s get an answer. We’ve been at this two weeks. The American people deserve to have their government functioning.”
Jordan came up short in an initial vote on Tuesday as 20 of his fellow Republicans and all 212 Democrats voted against him. Backers and critics alike predicted that opposition could increase by five to 10 Republicans in a second ballot.
“I think it gets more and more difficult for him every day,” said Republican Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, who opposes Jordan.
Surveying the stalemate from the sidelines, two former Republican speakers advocated for empowering McHenry to lead the chamber, at least through the end of the year.
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who held the role in the late 1990s, recommended the move “if the House Republicans cannot resolve the speakership in the next few days” in an essay on Tuesday.
“I agree,” former Speaker John Boehner responded on social media.
Republicans who control the chamber have been unable to unite behind a speaker candidate since a small faction of them ousted Kevin McCarthy on Oct. 3.
Jordan, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, could be in trouble if more Republicans vote against him in a second ballot.
McCarthy sounded a note of optimism for Jordan hours before the second vote.
“If he can hold his votes and the number goes up, I think he can get there,” McCarthy told CNBC.
At least one Republican who voted against him on Tuesday, Representative Doug LaMalfa, said he would vote for Jordan on the second ballot.
ALTERNATIVES
New Republican alternatives aside from McHenry could also emerge if Jordan does not pick up support. Potential candidates include Representative Tom Emmer, currently the No. 3 House Republican.
Republicans control the House by a narrow 221-212 majority and can afford no more than four defections.
Democrats have signaled support for empowering McHenry and said they would not insist on sharing power.
“We recognize that the Republicans temporarily hold the gavel. We respect that,” Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Tuesday.
Members of both parties have been discussing a possible agreement. But some Democrats privately said Republicans will have to publicly call for a bipartisan solution and they have yet to indicate a willingness to do so.
Unlike previous House leaders, who gained influence by raising money and building broad coalitions, Jordan has made his name as a vocal leader of the party’s hard right, tangling with Democrats and Republicans alike.
As a founder of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, the former wrestling coach helped drive Republican Boehner into retirement in 2015 and advocated for government shutdowns in 2013 and 2018.
A congressional investigation found that Jordan was a “significant player” in Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
As chair of the House Judiciary Committee, he has led investigations into Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration and is a driving force in an impeachment inquiry into Biden that Democrats say is baseless.
Several of his Republican opponents have senior positions on the House Appropriations Committee, including panel chair Kay Granger. Democrats pointed to that fact as a sign of Republican concern for the deep spending cuts that Jordan and other hardliners have advocated this year.
Jordan’s supporters say he would be an effective advocate for advancing conservative priorities in Washington, where Democrats control the White House and the Senate.
