watch
now
Rep.
Jim
Jordan’s
bid
to
become
speaker
of
the
U.S.
House
of
Representatives
failed
in
a
first
vote
Tuesday,
raising
the
prospect
that
the
Ohio
Republican
could
keep
trying
with
multiple
ballots.
Minutes
into
the
vote,
Jordan’s
candidacy
was
already
in
peril
as
a
string
of
Republicans
surprised
their
caucus
by
voting
against
the
Ohio
lawmaker.
The
trend
continued
over
the
half-hour
voice
vote.
Jordan
ultimately
fell
short
by
20
votes,
a
higher
number
than
many
in
the
conference
had
predicted
ahead
of
the
vote.
Those
who
were
opposed
to
Jordan
cast
their
ballots
for
other
people,
including
former
Speaker
Kevin
McCarthy
and
Majority
Leader
Rep.
Steve
Scalise.
Neither
man
was
in
the
running,
however,
so
voting
for
them
merely
had
the
effect
of
denying
Jordan
that
vote.
Some
Republicans
even
voted
for
Lee
Zeldin,
who
left
Congress
in
January.
Following
the
first
ballot,
Jordan
huddled
with
his
close
allies
on
the
House
floor,
before
interim
Speaker
Pro
Tempore
Patrick
McHenry
called
a
recess
of
the
House.
“We
got
to
keep
talking
to
members,”
Jordan
told
reporters
after
the
first
vote.
The
House
will
meet
again
Wednesday
at
11
a.m.
ET,
when
another
vote
on
Jordan’s
speakership
is
expected.
Postponing
the
vote
for
a
day
bought
Jordan
valuable
time
to
try
and
win
over
Republican
holdouts.
Yet
with
20
members
already
having
shown
themselves
willing
to
publicly
vote
against
Jordan,
and
even
more
holdouts
expected
on
a
second
ballot,
the
task
of
coming
together,
for
House
Republicans,
is
daunting.
Tuesday’s
vote
came
just
two
weeks
after
a
faction
of
hard-line
Republican
lawmakers
ousted
then-Speaker
Kevin
McCarthy
and
threw
the
lower
chamber
into
chaos.
The
Judiciary
Committee
chairman
could
only
afford
to
lose
four
Republicans
out
of
221
and
still
win
the
gavel.
He
lost
20.
The
deeply
divided
Republican
conference
has
so
far
been
unable
to
coalesce
around
a
candidate
for
speaker
after
McCarthy’s
ouster.
Scalise
was
the
party’s
original
nominee
to
succeed
McCarthy,
but
he
was
forced
to
abandon
his
bid
last
week
after
he
could
not
secure
the
votes.
McCarthy
himself
faced
15
rounds
of
voting
before
he
won
the
gavel
in
January.
Jordan
has
said
he
wants
the
House
to
keep
voting
Tuesday
until
it
chooses
a
speaker,
suggesting
Jordan
intends
to
wear
down
his
opposition
on
the
House
floor.
The
House
has
been
leaderless
for
two
weeks
after
a
faction
of
eight
Republicans
led
by
Rep.
Matt
Gaetz
of
Florida
ousted
McCarthy
in
an
unprecedented
no-confidence
vote.
Democrats
refused
to
come
to
the
rescue
of
McCarthy’s
speakership,
which
led
to
his
downfall.
They
have
no
incentive
to
do
Jordan
any
favors
either,
a
hard-right
Ohio
Republican
and
close
ally
of
Donald
Trump
who
is
leading
an
impeachment
inquiry
against
President
Joe
Biden.
This
means
Jordan
has
to
rely
entirely
on
his
party’s
narrow
majority.
The
leadership
vacuum
in
the
House
has
put
Congress
in
a
state
of
paralysis,
unable
to
move
forward
with
important
national
security
legislation
amid
rising
tensions
and
escalating
conflict
around
the
world.
Biden
and
Republican
national
security
hawks
like
House
Foreign
Affairs
Committee
Chairman
Michael
McCaul
of
Texas
have
warned
the
leadership
vacuum
in
the
lower
chamber
is
dangerous.
The
president
has
called
on
Congress
to
pass
emergency
security
assistance
for
Israel
after
the
devastating
Hamas
terrorist
attacks,
as
well
as
for
Ukraine
as
Kyiv
is
running
out
of
time
to
push
Russia
back
before
the
weather
makes
military
operations
more
difficult.
—
CNBC’s
Emily
Wilkins
contributed
reporting
from
Washington
D.C.
