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Jim Jordan’s bid to be U.S. House speaker ends after rejection by GOP in closed meeting
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 20: U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) (R), Republican Speaker designee, talks to his Chief of Staff Kevin Eichinger and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) after the House of Representatives failed to elevate Jordan to Speaker of the House for the third time in the U.S. Capitol on October 20, 2023 in Washington, DC. After falling short in two consecutive votes for Speaker, Jordan vowed he would continue to try and lead the House, which has been without an elected leader since Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted from the speakership on October 4. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Ohio Republican Jim Jordan is no longer the Republican nominee for speaker of the U.S. House.
Shortly after a failed floor vote Friday on Jordan’s bid, Republicans held a closed-door meeting where Jordan failed to garner enough votes from his fellow GOP lawmakers to stay in the race as their nominee.
“I told the (Republican) conference it was an honor to be their speaker designee,” Jordan said to reporters.
The floor vote was Jordan’s third attempt this week to win sufficient support from Republicans, who hold a slim majority in the House.
“We’ll have to go back to the drawing board,” former Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters.
Louisiana’s Steve Scalise said that Republicans will pick a new nominee and come back to their quandary on Monday.
North Carolina’s Patrick McHenry, who has been serving as speaker pro tempore, told reporters that the plan is to have a floor vote for speaker on Tuesday.
A candidate forum for a new speaker designee will be held Monday night at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. Republican Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma told reporters shortly after Jordan’s rejection that he would run.
“I just voted for my good friend Jim Jordan to stay as our Speaker Designate, but the conference has determined that he will no longer hold that title. We just had two speaker designates go down. We must unify and do it fast. I’ve spoken to every member of the conference over the last few weeks. We need a different type of leader who has a proven track record of success, which is why I’m running for Speaker of the House,” Hern wrote on X Friday afternoon.
Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, who briefly challenged but lost to Jordan in conference on Oct. 13, said he will enter the race again.
“If we are going to be the majority we need to act like the majority, and that means we have to do the right things the right way. I supported and voted for Rep. Jim Jordan to be the Speaker of the House. Now that he has withdrawn I am running again to be the Speaker of the House,” Scott wrote on X.
Rep. Jack Bergman, who had been mulling a bid, said Friday afternoon that his “hat is in the ring.”
“And I feel confident I can win the votes where others could not. I have no special interests to serve; I’m only in this to do what’s best for our Nation and to steady the ship for the 118th Congress,” he wrote on X.
Reports on X from news media indicated that Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Byron Donalds of Florida will also run.
Jacob Fischler contributed to this report.
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