House GOP conference votes to abandon Jordan as speaker nominee
Reese Gorman Cami Mondeaux
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The House Republican Conference voted to move on from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) as its speaker nominee after three failed votes on the floor earlier this week.
Jordan’s bid ended after 112 Republicans voted to remove him as the party nominee compared to just 86 who voted to keep him. The vote leaves the House without a path forward on its leadership elections, with plans to adjourn for the weekend before advancing another candidate.
HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE VOTES TO ABANDON JORDAN AS SPEAKER NOMINEE
House Republicans will reconvene on Monday evening for another candidate forum — the third one this month — with possible votes as early as Tuesday. It’s not yet clear who will throw their hats in the ring, but several names have been floated as it became more evident Jordan’s speakership was out of reach.
With each failed vote, Jordan lost more support. On the third ballot on Friday, 25 Republicans voted against him, making it clear he had no path to the speakership.
A handful of Republicans criticized the decision to leave for the weekend, with Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) saying a majority of the conference voted to continue advancing a candidate “but were overruled.”
“Which is a mistake,” he said.
“We shouldn’t stop and go home just because it’s the weekend,” he added.
Other lawmakers said Jordan made the right decision to step aside, acknowledging there was no path forward for the Ohio Republican.
“I think Jim did right by the conference by stepping aside here. The consensus was not there,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who voted against Jordan on Friday. “He was very gracious about it. But we need to move forward and we need to get back to work.”
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Jordan left the closed-door meeting on Friday without a preferred candidate in mind, noting that would be “a conference decision.”
“We need to come together and figure out who our speaker is going to be,” he said.