House Speaker Kevin McCarthy barely made the cut after days of Republicans debating whether he has what it takes to lead the House. After narrowly squeezing through to the win, McCarthy has fallen in estimation and support waned.
Now Republicans have ousted McCarthy as Speaker, and the fight is on to see who will win the seat. Former President Donald Trump and outgoing speaker McCarthy himself have endorsed Jim Jordan, Rep. of Ohio’s 4th congressional district since 2007.
Republicans now deal with the opposing factions within the party, as conservatives face off with RINOs. Jordan failed to win the seat on the first round of voting Tuesday, with 20 of the more liberal Republicans voting against Jordan. The second vote today has Jordan reaching out to holdouts and asking for unity.
During Tuesday’s vote, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) voted for the ousted McCarthy, inciting a response from at least one journalist.
Fox News host Brian Kilmeade was caught on a hot mic today labeling Bacon a “dumbass” following his vote for Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker instead of the anticipated Jim Jordan.
During live coverage of the historic vote in a strained atmosphere, Kilmeade’s remark was caught on a hot mic as he reacted to Bacon’s vote for the just-ousted McCarthy.
Although Kilmeade was voicing the thought that was undoubtedly in many heads, the fact that it was picked up by the mic has gone viral.
Don Bacon https://t.co/y1WHwPwkzL
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 17, 2023
Hilarious. However, there are a lot of them in that room.
— Mike Sperrazza (@MikeASperrazza) October 17, 2023
He’s not wrong
— drmini14 (@drmini141) October 17, 2023
Heard it. Kilmeade for the win.
Correct answer.
— Christopher Colombo (@clhwi2017) October 17, 2023
The voting against Jordan was led by five GOP representatives who are against him, and fifteen others followed their lead. Eight are leaning/undecided, and reports are already coming through that a number of those will swing their votes to Jordan in the next vote, set to take place this morning, wednesday, at 11am.
Five GOP representatives were staunchly against Jordan’s speakership, with another eight leaning or undecided.
A conservative Republican who has staunchly supported President Trump, Jordan received significant endorsements with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) stating that he would be “We the People’s Speaker for such a time as this,” lauding his fighting spirit and dedication. Former Speaker McCarthy was also confident, predicting on Fox Business that Jordan would become the “56th Speaker of the House.”
another popular Republican, Steve Scalise (R-La) was nominated last week, but failed to get enough votes at that time.
Jordan has called for unity within the Republican Party, stating on social media, “We must stop attacking each other and come together.”
Fox News reported that Jordan had received 124 votes in a proir secret ballot, short of the 217 needed. Jordan would need to flip 16 of the 20 no votes.
The standoff highlights the split factions of the Republican Party. As conservatives gain numbers in support across the U.W. and former President Trump’s numbers climb consistantly higher, the right watches to see is holdouts for a more liberal speaker will change their tune and fall into line with conservatives.
In addition to the second vote today, Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Pa), Chairman of the Republican Governance Group, is calling to “flesh out” interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry’s (R-NC) role in leadership, particularly in light of the urgency for Congress to approve aid for Israel as it fights a bloody was with terror group Hamas, Fox News reports.
A source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that Joyce hopes to introduce a resolution to do so on Wednesday. It seems that the move further splits the party instead of all Republicans getting behind one candidate for the Speaker position.
Fox News states:
McHenry was chosen by ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to serve as speaker pro-tempore if he were ever ousted, which he was earlier this month in a House majority vote by eight republicans and all Democrats.
The measure expanding McHenry’s powers shows an attempt to keep more liberal Republicans at the forefront of the power seat.
Rather than have a second vote on Tuesday, a move called for by congressman Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, the vote will be held today which gave Jordan a few hours to address those against his bid for Speaker.
Jordan said on Tuesday, “We’ve got to have a speaker. And it can’t be some deal with the Democrats. The American people don’t want that.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York indicated that some Republicans, the less conservative, were prepared to work across tha aisle to resolve the situation, saying that there have been “informal conversations that have accelerated over the last few days.”
Jeffries, of course is pushing for JOrdan to be defeated and surely hope for a less conservative leader in the House to be elected. Saying yesterday, ” My hope, now that it’s clear Jim Jordan lacks the votes to be speaker, is that those conversations will accelerate this evening,” Jeffries highlighted the Democrat effort to oppose Jordan’s attempts to unify the Republicans.
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