Jim Jordan cannot win the speakership. He should give way
Washington Examiner
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Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) should withdraw as the Republican nominee for speaker of the House. With every ballot on the House floor, he loses more votes, so it is evident he cannot secure a majority. He does the House and the country a disservice by continuing to press his hopeless case. He is simply not popular enough and is too divisive to lead.
On the third full House floor ballot since former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was unwisely evicted from his post, 25 of Jordan’s fellow Republicans voted against him. He could afford to lose only three. Some of those naysayers have reasons more valid than others, but the call for Jordan’s withdrawal is not a comment on his abilities. It is instead a recognition of political realities within the House, combined with the pressing need to get the people’s representative assembly back to work amid international crises and the threat of another government shutdown.
SPEAKER VOTE: THE 25 REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED NOT TO ELECT JORDAN ON HIS THIRD BALLOT
Jordan has had not just every opportunity to secure the speakership, but arguably every advantage. Even with the support of former President Donald Trump, he lost the internal party ballot for the nomination to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA). Trump’s subsequent pressure to block Scalise, along with arm-twisting from big-money outside groups, convinced Scalise to step down for the good of the order.
Even when Jordan, without senior opposition, finally did win the nomination, 55 of his Republican colleagues originally voted within their own conference that they wished not to support him on the floor, and it is a testament to their party loyalty that 35 of them voted for him on the floor anyway on the first ballot.
Yet even with all of Trump’s strength and not just pressure but threats from outside groups against Jordan’s Republican opponents, the number of floor GOP opponents rose from 20 on the first ballot to 22 on the second, and then to 25 on the third. There is a near certainty that from this number, Jordan’s level of support will bleed even more.
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So what is the point of dragging this out? In addition to McCarthy and Scalise, both of whom enjoy more support than Jordan does, there are at least three or four other Republican members who have the skills to lead the House and the potential to unite the party conference. Jordan should give them a chance.
It is not, after all, as if Jordan’s obstinance is occurring in a vacuum. Without a speaker, the House, by rule, cannot legislate. An aid package for Israel, especially to replenish its Iron Dome missile defense, hangs in the balance. So do the questions of aid to Ukraine, of defense funding for the United States itself, of disaster relief for American communities hurt by severe weather this year, and of keeping the government from running out of appropriations. And more.