The Republican majority’s speaker saga continued this week as Speaker Designee Jim Jordan failed to gain 217 votes in two rounds of voting as some Republicans considered working with the Democrats to temporarily empower Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-NC) to oversee the House until January, CBS News reported.
In Tuesday’s voting, Jordan failed to secure a majority after 20 Republicans refused to back his bid for speaker. By Wednesday’s second-round voting, the number of Republican holdouts increased to 22, with one Republican lawmaker, Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who voted for Jordan in the first round, citing credible death threats from individuals supporting Jordan as the reason she switched her vote.
A third vote was scheduled for Thursday but the plan was abandoned after Congressman Jordan told Republican colleagues that he would support the resolution to empower McHenry to oversee the chamber until January while Jordan continued his campaign to build support for his Speaker’s bid.
However, after his suggestion was met with fierce opposition from dozens of Republican lawmakers, Congressman Jordan reversed course, saying he would try for a third round of voting this week.
Jordan told reporters Thursday that he pitched his support for the resolution in hopes that it would “lower the temperature” and get the House “back to work,” but changed course after the Republican conference made it clear that this “wasn’t where we’re going to go.”
He told reporters that he was still in the running and planned to “go to the floor and get the votes” to win. Jordan said he planned to speak with the Republican holdouts personally so the House “can move forward and begin to work for the American people.”
When asked about the death threats Congresswoman Miller-Meeks received, Jordan said the threats were “terrible” and said there was “no place for that for anyone,” adding “It’s just wrong.”
In a post on X Wednesday, Jordan condemned the threats aimed at Republican lawmakers, calling them “abhorrent” and demanding that they “Stop.”
