Washington DC, United States: The political turmoil in the US House of Representatives has taken another turn, as the Republicans decided to drop Jim Jordan as their nominee for the House Speaker on Friday.
Reportedly, the decision was taken during a closed-door session between the members after Jordan badly failed to gain sufficient votes on the third ballot for the gavel. This outcome filled the Republicans with frustration, as the House has entered another week without a speaker.
Jim Jordan’s comment
After being removed as the nominee for the House Speaker, Jordan said to his colleagues, “We put the question to them; they made a different decision,” as per AP.
According to reports, House Republicans are struggling to come together and elect a new leader, causing delays in congressional work after Kevin McCarthy was removed earlier this month.
The determined Judiciary Committee leader urged House Republicans to unite and choose their next speaker.
With their majority in jeopardy, Republicans left the closed-door meeting pointing fingers at each other for the divisions they’ve caused. What’s next remains unclear as various Republican lawmakers vie for the role of speaker.
At the moment, it seems no one can secure the needed GOP majority, leaving the House without a speaker and causing it to remain inactive for the near future. This is a significant setback for the US government.
Comments of Other Republicans
In this regard, former House Speaker – Kevin McCarthy, who was abruptly removed by some hardliner Republicans, said, “We are in a very bad place right now.”
Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced they will begin anew on Monday. They plan to introduce new candidates for a candidate forum and conduct internal party votes.
With no easy solution, many, including frustrated freshman Rep. Mark Alford from Missouri, voiced their anger and disappointment. He stated, “I gave up my career to come here to do something for America, to rebuild our military, to get spending under control, to secure our border — and here we are in this quicksand,” as per AP.
Jim Jordan’s third ballot
Jim Jordan appeared for the third ballot on Friday and lost to his 25 Republican colleagues. This count was worse than he fared in the last two ballots. It is to be noted that every voting round was leaving him far from the majority needed.
Jordan’s support dwindled during the week. On Friday, he got 194 votes, down from 200 on Tuesday, which was not enough to become the speaker. Then, in a private meeting, Republicans voted 112-86 to remove Jordan’s nomination.
After the meeting, Jordan told reporters, “It was an honor to be their speaker designee, and added, “We need to come together to figure out who our speaker is going to be. I’m going to work as hard as I can to help that individual.”