WASHINGTON — A second effort by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to win the House speaker’s gavel fell short Wednesday when he couldn’t get 217 votes from his Republican colleagues.
Jordan lost 22 Republicans ― two more than on Tuesday.
The loss, at the start of the House’s third week without a speaker, may add momentum to a move to give acting Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) more clearly defined power as a way to get the chamber to start considering bills again.
But that prospect would require Republican buy-in, which is far from certain, and likely the support of some Democrats, who would have their own demands in exchange.
Jordan can try again — it took Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) 15 tries to become speaker in January — but it’s unclear how Jordan could win over the moderate coalition arrayed against him.
Several Republicans said this week they resented the pressure they received from Jordan allies in right-wing media and other fans of the combative House Freedom Caucus founder.
“I think some of the pressure campaigns have backfired,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who backs Jordan, said Tuesday on Fox News, citing conversations with his colleagues.
Others complained that Jordan became the GOP’s speaker-designee through underhanded means after another Republican, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), beat Jordan for the job in an internal election last week.
Republicans have been leaderless since dumping McCarthy earlier this month, and without a speaker, the House has ceased to function. The chamber can’t even pass the kind of symbolic pro-Israel resolution that normally the body would approve almost reflexively when that country came under attack.
Some Republicans have said they should make a deal with Democrats to temporarily empower McHenry to move legislation. Though Jordan, who opposed the idea, suggested that it be put to a vote Wednesday, it was not taken to the floor.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said his caucus did not formally discuss how it would respond to that proposal in Democrats’ meeting Wednesday.
“If there’s a real proposal in front of us, it will have to reconvene and have that conversation,” he said.
Jordan is a major backer of former President Donald Trump, using the House Judiciary Committee as a war room to defend Trump from his various criminal indictments. Before, he helped Trump coordinate his response to losing the 2020 presidential election and spoke with Trump by phone on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob attacked the Capitol.
Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who voted against Jordan on Tuesday and Wednesday, told HuffPost Jordan had been overly “knowledgeable and involved in the whole challenging the election.”
Jordan did manage to flip two lawmakers who had voted against him Tuesday ― Reps. Doug LaMalfa of California and Victoria Spartz of Indiana ― to his side, though this was not enough to offset more defections from him.
LaMalfa told HuffPost that he supported Jordan, adding that he had voted for McCarthy previously as a protest over his historic ouster. LaMalfa said he would support Jordan going forward and that it was up to Jordan to decide how long he wanted to keep trying.
“Jim should have his day to decide how many more rounds he wants to go, if he’s gaining or not,” LaMalfa said.
After the vote Wednesday, Republicans wandered out of the Capitol unsure what they would do. The earliest that another vote might happen is Thursday at noon; Jordan did not respond to a question about whether he would give up.
“We have to wait for our Speaker-designate Jordan to make his decision on what he wants to do next,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) said.
The powers that McHenry has now as speaker pro tempore are subject to debate. The House rule that made McHenry the acting speaker limits him to exercising “such authorities of the Office of Speaker as may be necessary and appropriate” to get a permanent speaker elected.
Democrats have contended that McHenry’s power is limited because the rule was adopted in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, when lawmakers were worried about a mass casualty event that could impair Congress and result in it being unable to meet. Some Republicans are also wary of interpreting the rule as allowing for a strong acting speaker.
McHenry has mostly kept his duties limited to opening and closing the House chamber and overseeing the floor votes to elect a new speaker, closer to the weak reading of his role.
The holding pattern in the House will likely end within the next week or two, either by electing a new speaker or empowering McHenry.
A supplemental spending bill totaling about $100 billion in aid for Israel and Ukraine, as well as other priorities, is expected to be sent to the Senate next week. If the Senate clears it before a new House speaker is elected, that could force the issue.
“If we don’t have a speaker, we can’t bring a bill up on the floor,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.