Category: Pure Politics

Well, the House reconvened at Noon today as scheduled to vote on a new Speaker… and after that vote, the chamber is still in search of a new leader.

Jim Jordan of Ohio, who had become the Republican nominee only on Friday, failed to convince enough of his conference members to support him, at least on this round of votes.  Once again, the Democrats nominated Hakeem Jeffries of New York as their nominee.  After all of the votes had been counted, Jordan won 200 votes, Jeffries received 212, and other candidates received the support of 20 Republicans.

The House currently stand in recess in the aftermath of the vote.

Much has happened since Steve Scalise of Louisiana stepped down as a Republican candidate for Speaker.  After that, Austin Scott of Georgia entered the race as an alternative to Jim Jordan of Ohio, who had finished second to Scalise.  During another Republican conference meeting, Jordan emerged victorious over Scott.  However, Jordan only had 124 votes; Scott, who was a last-minute candidate, garnered 81.  The House has been in recess since Friday and Jordan and his allies have been looking for votes over the weekend.

It appears, however, as of Monday morning, he still has ways to go before he reaches the 217 votes needed to actually become speaker.  A number of moderates and House Republicans who represent districts won by President Biden are not comfortable with Jordan– a co-founder of the Freedom Caucus, one of the biggest supporters of Donald Trump, and one of the chairmen leading an impeachment inquiry against Biden, just to name a few of their concerns– becoming the leader of the Republican conference.

At this point, the House Republicans are scheduled to reconvene this evening to assess the situation.  The entire House is currently scheduled to vote on a Speaker on Tuesday.  Given what has happened recently, it is more than possible that the vote could slip.

Read more about the developments here, here, and here.

After several members-only meetings within the Republican conference yesterday, Steve Scalise, the individual who had the most votes for Speaker back on Tuesday, announced that he would no longer be a candidate for the position.  He made the announcement after it became apparent that he would not have the 217 votes needed from the members of his conference when the official vote takes place on the floor.

The question now is:  Who’s next?  Scalise beat out Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, 113 to 99 during a vote among Republicans on Tuesday.  While many believe Jordan is the next obvious choice, it is far from certain that he has the votes.  He is an ardent supporter of former president Trump.  Republicans are expected to reconvene today for further discussions.

Read more about the situation here, here, and here. 

Even with Republican conference having chosen Majority Leader Steve Scalise as their nominee for Speaker earlier today, the House is currently in recess.  One of the many remaining questions following the internal party vote was what Jim Jordan, who ran against Scalise, would do.  Since the vote, Jordan has pledged to support Scalise.  Even with that development, it appears that Scalise still does not have the 217 votes locked up needed within the party.  

A host of other uncertainties remain, including what Jordan supporters plan to do as well as questions around where the diehard supporters of Kevin McCarthy supporters might fall.  If Democrats vote together for their own leader as Speaker, Scalise can only afford to lose four Republicans on the floor.  More than four Republican have come out publicly this afternoon to say that they will oppose Scalise.

The majority is trying to avoid a floor vote on Speaker resembling the 15 rounds that the House had to go through in January.

Stay tuned for updates.

By a vote of 113 to 99, House Republicans have chosen Steve Scalise of Louisiana as their nominee for Speaker.  He currently serves as the Majority Leader and was in competition with Jim Jordan of Ohio, who currently chairs the Judiciary Committee.  Although he won the nomination, it remains unclear whether he can actually garner enough votes on the House floor when the entire chamber reconvenes to actually elect a new Speaker, as the Democrats are expected to vote for their leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, for that position.

The House could reconvene and vote today.