UPDATED 3:54 P.M.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday nominated hardline conservative Jim Jordan to lead the chamber, a move that will test whether the longtime critic of Republican leadership can win enough support to seize the speaker’s gavel.
Republican infighting has left the House paralyzed for 10 days, as lawmakers have deadlocked over a successor to Kevin McCarthy, who was forced out by a small group of Republican insurgents on Oct. 3.
Jordan prevailed in a closed-door vote over Austin Scott, a Georgia lawmaker who has kept a relatively low profile in his 12 years in Congress. The vote was by 124-81, according to a Republican aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.
To become speaker, a powerful role second in line to the presidency after the vice president, Jordan must still win a majority vote on the House floor, and it is not clear whether he would be able to unite his fellow Republicans behind his bid.
Republicans control the chamber by a narrow 221-212 margin, meaning they can afford to lose no more than four votes if Democrats vote against him, as they are expected to do.
After Jordan’s victory, Republicans readied a second round of voting to see if he could muster the 217 votes needed to prevail in a floor vote.
Jordan narrowly lost the nomination on Wednesday to Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican who was seen as the heir apparent to McCarthy. But Scalise abandoned his bid on Thursday after it became clear he could not consolidate Republicans behind him.
Some Republicans their problems ran deeper than a simple lack of leadership.
“There’s a lack of trust. There’s a lack of transparency,” said Representative Kat Cammack. “That’s what we need to address before we can even really get to the speaker.”
Jordan, who serves as House Judiciary Committee chair, tormented Republican leaders for years as a vocal advocate for the party’s right wing. He has the endorsement of McCarthy and former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“I think I can unite the conference, I think I can tell the country what we’re doing and why it matters,” Jordan told reporters before the vote.
HOUSE PARALYZED
Without a speaker, the House is at a deadlock as war expands in the Middle East, Russia continues to pound Ukraine and the government faces a Nov. 17 partial shutdown deadline without additional funding from Congress.
Republicans have been hoping to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing spectacle that occurred in January, when hardline conservatives forced McCarthy to endure 15 floor votes over four days before winning the gavel.
Jordan backers said he would eventually be able to consolidate support even if he does not win in the first few rounds of voting. They said his confrontational style could help in negotiating with Democratic President Joe Biden and the Democratic-controlled Senate.
“We need someone who is tough, who’s smart and can negotiate in that room. I think Jim Jordan can do it,” said Representative Nicole Malliotakis.
But Jordan faced skepticism from those who were angry that his supporters had failed to unite behind Scalise.
“I just think that Steve got a raw deal,” said Representative Vern Buchanan.
While McCarthy was the first speaker in U.S. history ousted by a vote of the chamber, the last two Republicans to hold the job – John Boehner and Paul Ryan – also left under pressure from their right flanks.
(Reporting by David Morgan, Katharine Jackson, Moria Warburton and Richard Cowan; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Gerry Doyle and Jonathan Oatis)
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UPDATED 11:21 A.M.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday prepared to pick another candidate to lead the chamber, though it was unclear whether any would be able to surmount the internal divisions that led heir apparent Steve Scalise to abandon his bid.
Republican infighting has left the House essentially paralyzed for 10 days straight, as lawmakers have deadlocked over a successor to Kevin McCarthy, who was forced out by a small group of Republican insurgents on Oct. 3.
Party lawmakers were due to hear from candidates Republicans at 1 p.m. ET (1700 GMT), with a possible closed-door nominating vote to follow.
Hardline conservative Jim Jordan said he would seek the gavel, after narrowly losing to Scalise in a nominating vote on Wednesday. But he faced skepticism from Scalise allies, who were angry that lawmakers had failed to unite behind his bid.
Other possible candidates include McCarthy, who has not discouraged talk of a comeback, Representative Patrick McHenry, who now holds the job on a temporary basis, and Representatives Kevin Hern and Tom Cole, lawmakers said.
A successful candidate would need to secure 217 votes from the splintered 221-212 Republican majority to win the job.
Republicans considered and rejected a rule that would require any nominee to lock up 217 of their votes before moving to a public vote on the House floor.
“We need to focus on the person that can get the votes and get the job done as quick as we can, get it done and move on,” Representative Roger Williams said.
That led some to suggest an alternative path: Expanding McHenry’s powers, which would enable the House to take up aid to Israel and other pressing matters.
“If we can’t solve this today, we need to expand Patrick McHenry’s authority,” Representative Dan Meuser said.
HOUSE PARALYZED
Without a speaker, the House is essentially paralyzed as war expands in the Middle East, Russia continues to pound Ukraine and the government faces a Nov. 17 partial shutdown deadline without additional funding from Congress.
Several Republicans suggested they may need to strike a deal with Democrats, who have joined with Republican leaders several times this year to avert a government shutdown in September and a debt default in June. But Democrats said they had not heard from Republicans about that possibility.
Republicans have been hoping to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing spectacle that occurred in January, when hardline conservatives forced McCarthy to endure 15 floor votes over four days before winning the gavel.
Tempers ran high after Scalise abandoned his leadership bid.
“Members have got to get it through their heads that they’re squandering a majority,” Representative Andy Barr told reporters after Scalise announced his withdrawal.
Representative Don Bacon, a Republican centrist, said he and other lawmakers would not support Jordan because his backers had refused to support Scalise when he won the party’s nomination on Wednesday.
“Many of us … feel that’s rewarding bad behavior if we do that,” he said.
While McCarthy was the first speaker in U.S. history ousted by a vote of the chamber, the last two Republicans to hold the job – John Boehner and Paul Ryan – also left under pressure from their right flanks.
(Reporting by David Morgan and Moria Warburton and Richard Cowan; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Gerry Doyle and Jonathan Oatis)
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Representative Steve Scalise, who Republicans picked to be the next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, dropped out of the race on Thursday as his party failed to resolve its divisions, sending the chamber into its 10th day without leadership.
Scalise, the Majority Leader, had secured his party’s nomination to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy but was still short of the 217 votes needed to be elected on the House floor, as several of his fellow Republicans said they would not support him.
Republicans could afford no more than four defections – they control the House by a narrow 221-212 margin – if they wanted to end the House’s leaderless bout that has already lasted nine days.
“I just shared with my colleagues that I was withdrawing my name as a candidate for our speaker designee,” Scalise told reporters.
“If you look at over the last few weeks, if you look at where our conference is, there is still work to be done … There are still some people that have their own agendas,” he said.
The Republican infighting has left the chamber unable to act to support Israel’s war against Palestinian militants of Hamas and pass government spending bills before funding runs out on Nov. 17.
Republicans concluded a meeting Thursday night without coming to an agreement on who would be their nominee. They will meet again at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) on Friday.
Republicans had hoped to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing spectacle that occurred in January, when hardline conservatives forced McCarthy to endure 15 floor votes over four days before winning the gavel.
‘AT A STANDSTILL’
Several Republicans earlier said they would stick with Scalise’s rival Jim Jordan, who lost out in a secret-ballot vote on Wednesday. Jordan had encouraged his supporters to vote for Scalise, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Representative Greg Murphy said it was not clear that Jordan could win enough support to succeed on the floor.
“It’s going to be hard,” Murphy told reporters. “Personally, I think it may end up being a compromise candidate.”
Representative Patrick McHenry, who was named as temporary speaker after McCarthy’s ouster, is seen as a possible fallback candidate if no one else has enough votes.
Some Republicans have also suggested that to work around the paralysis caused by the lack of a permanent speaker, McHenry’s temporary powers could be enhanced.
Although McCarthy was the first speaker to be removed in a formal vote, the last two Republicans to hold the job wound up leaving under pressure from party hardliners.
Scalise, 58, gained near legendary status within Republican circles by surviving a severe gunshot wound after a gunman opened fire during practice for a charity baseball game in 2017.
He also commands widespread respect as a veteran legislator who has spent years in party leadership positions.
But Scalise also faces new health concerns as he undergoes treatment for multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, which some Jordan supporters cited as a reason not to vote for him.
Jordan was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and appeared to be the favorite of populist minded hardliners.
Trump in an interview with Fox News Radio on Thursday said he did not object to Scalise as speaker.
“Steve is a man that is in serious trouble from the standpoint of his cancer. I mean, he’s got to get better for himself,” he said in an interview with Fox News Radio.
(Reporting by David Morgan, Moira Warburton and Richard Cowan; additional reporting by Makini Brice; Writing by Andy Sullivan and Costas Pitas; Editing by Scott Malone, Lisa Shumaker, Grant McCool and Gerry Doyle)
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