With a vote set for Tuesday afternoon in the U.S. House of Representatives, the latest Republican candidate for House speaker, Jim Jordan, is making progress in flipping detractors in his efforts to shore up Republican support.
Jordan, a right-winged representative from Ohio, has gained the support of several more Republicans, but it is still unclear whether he will be able to get enough members of his party to back him in his quest for the speakership.
"I feel real good about the momentum we have," Jordan told reporters outside his office Monday. "We're going to elect a speaker tomorrow."
Jordan, who is backed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, will meet with Republican colleagues Tuesday in another closed-door meeting in an attempt to fully unify his party behind his candidacy. Some Republicans have expressed concern that Jordan is too extreme for the position of Speaker of the House.
The House has been without a speaker for two weeks after Republicans ousted former speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Republicans first put forward Representative Steve Scalise as their candidate, though he was unable to secure enough Republican votes to reach a majority and overcome Democrats who were unified in support of their Democratic candidate, Hakeem Jeffries. Scalise later withdrew his name from consideration.
Jordan can afford only four Republican detractors in the vote. He needs 217 votes, or a majority of the chamber, which Republicans control by a slim 221-212 majority.
With Democrats expected to unify around representative Jeffries again, Jordan is vowing to "bring all Republicans together" so the party can use its narrow majority to elect a speaker.
Republicans who ally with Trump, including Representative Matt Gaetz and Fox News anchor Sean Hannity, have been mounting pressure on Republicans to throw their support behind Jordan.
Though Jordan has been gaining support, the vote could see multiple rounds as some Republicans are still refusing to back the candidate.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.
