For the second day in a row, Republican Representative Jim Jordan, a hard-line conservative and staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, lost his bid Wednesday to be elected as speaker of the House of Representatives.
Jordan, a nine-term lawmaker from the midwestern state of Ohio, lost one vote from the first round of voting on Tuesday, leaving him far short of the 217-vote majority he needs among the current 433 House members.
He won 199 Republican votes in the second round of voting, down one from Tuesday, as 22 Republican colleagues voted for other lawmakers for the top position in the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress.
Jordan also trailed Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who won the votes of all 212 Democrats, although he has no chance of becoming speaker of the chamber that is narrowly led by Republicans.
Since Representative Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as speaker two weeks ago, the House has been rudderless.
It has been unable to consider any legislation, such as a spending measure to avert a partial government shutdown when current funding runs out on November 17, or a straightforward, bipartisan resolution to support Israel after the U.S. ally was attacked October 7 by Hamas militants.
With Jordan’s defeat, it was not immediately clear what steps the House might take next to fill the speakership.
McCarthy claimed the speakership in January after 15 ballots, but it is unclear whether Jordan would seek another round of voting.
Some lawmakers, including Republicans and more than a few opposition Democrats, have suggested granting temporary House Speaker Patrick McHenry additional power on a short-term basis to bring key legislation to the floor for full House votes.
Some Republicans have also raised the possibility of reinstating McCarthy, although he balked at having his name placed in nomination. He voted for Jordan.
Jeffries called on Republicans to reject the influence of hard-right extremists in their party and work toward a bipartisan governing coalition.
"There's only two paths: either you're going to continue to bend the knee to the most extreme members of your conference, who are not interested in governing, or you can partner with Democrats to do the business of the American people," Jeffries said Tuesday.
Jordan, a divisive figure on Capitol Hill who frequently fires barbs at Democrats, could become the third candidate to fail to unite the Republican Party, after McCarthy and Representative Steve Scalise.
Scalise withdrew his name from contention after he outpolled Jordan among the Republican caucus but realized he could not get the required 217-vote majority in a full House vote. With the party holding a very narrow majority in the full House, any Republican will need near-unanimous support from their own members to be elected speaker.
