The election for House speaker is becoming a slogfest after GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) lost a third ballot for the gavel with no winner in sight.
His long-running bid for the speakership is under extreme threat from 20 Republican detractors who have rallied around Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). McCarthy ended the third round of voting with 202 members supporting him, while incoming Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) had the support of all 212 Democrats. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who voted for McCarthy in the first two rounds, defected to back Jordan on the subsequent ballot.
MCCARTHY’S FIVE BIGGEST RULES CONCESSIONS IN BID TO BECOME SPEAKER
The speaker needs 218 votes, a simple majority, to claim the gavel. The original 19 Republican opponents’ votes were split between Jordan and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) in the first round, but in the second, they coalesced around Jordan, who himself gave a nominating speech and voted for McCarthy.
McCarthy may begin to face pressure to drop out of the race, as the path to 218 votes is impossible without 16 of the 20 holdouts changing their minds. Without another alternative, Republicans could all vote for Jordan to prevent the gavel from going to a centrist alternative. Jordan is a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, home to a number of the McCarthy detractors, and holds the top Republican position on the House Judiciary Committee.
“Maybe the right person for speaker of the House isn’t someone who wants it so bad,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said in a floor speech nominating Jordan. “Maybe the right person for the job of speaker of the House isn’t someone who has sold shares of themself for more than a decade to get it. Maybe Jim Jordan is the right person for speaker of the House because he is not beholden to the lobbyists and special interests who have corrupted this place and corrupted this nation under the leadership of both Republicans and Democrats.”
Jordan becoming the only GOP nominee could risk the centrist wing of the party withdrawing its votes and backing a unity candidate. Centrist Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) told Punchbowl News, “Our intention is not to vote for a person in the conference outside of Kevin,” which could mean this faction could even nominate a former lawmaker in that situation. The speaker does not have to be a sitting member of Congress.
McCarthy has fought long and hard for the gavel since he dropped out of the 2015 speaker’s race and has made heavy rules concessions to the conservative wing of his party vying for his downfall. He hasn’t come this far to let his bid go easily, telling the GOP conference at a Tuesday morning meeting that he’s “earned this god**** job,” and sources close to him have said he plans to hold out until the bitter end.
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“For every one of them, there’s 15 of us. Kevin is going nowhere. It’s gonna turn into shirts and skins,” a McCarthy ally told Punchbowl News.
The roll call votes for speaker will continue until someone gets the majority.
