US House Speaker: Jordan to Try for 3rd Ballot

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Facts

• On Thursday, US Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) confirmed that he would seek a third round of voting on his House speaker bid after having lost two separate votes earlier this week.¹
• This marks a reversal from earlier reports on Thursday that Jordan had agreed to temporarily pause his House speaker bid and instead support a proposal to empower Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-NC) until January.²
• He lost a first round of voting on Tuesday, when 20 Republicans voted against Jordan, who accumulated a total of 200 votes for his speakership — one more than Wednesday's vote, which saw 22 Republicans side against him.³
• Though it's unclear when Jordan plans to call a third vote, he's expected to meet with the 22 Republicans who opposed him later in the day. However, according to CNN — which cited anonymous sources — some of the holdouts have refused to engage with him.⁴
• A majority of 217 is needed for Jordan, or any other candidate, to be elected speaker. The House has now remained without a speaker for 16 days after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Ca.) was removed in an unprecedented vote.⁵
• Fifteen rounds of voting were necessary to appoint McCarthy as speaker in January this year. Without a speaker, the House is unable to pass legislation — including packages to Ukraine and Israel — as well as an agreement on federal government funding in order to avoid a shutdown next month.⁶

Sources: ¹New York Times, ²Washington Post, ³Associated Press, ⁴CNN, ⁵BBC News and ⁶Forbes.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by MSNBC. While Democrats continue to hold their arm out for a bipartisan solution, Republicans continue to ignore the severe reality of the chamber's situation – continuing to play party politics. The House must go back to work, and far-right nominees such as Jordan – a Trump apologist – will get nowhere in speaker elections. For the House to get back up and running again, Republicans must compromise.
• Republican narrative, as provided by National review. Jordan appears to have only lost more ground in the last 24 hours. While the congressman has attempted to convince his party that it's time to unite after weeks of political uncertainty, there is a significant portion of Republicans who have not yet yielded. While Jordan will continue to rally fellow members of the House, other options within the party should certainly not be dismissed from consideration.
• Conservative narrative, as provided by My truth news. The 22 Republicans who voted against Jordan aren't doing so out of their duty to the institution or love of country; they're war-mongering RINOs who long for the days of George Bush's presidency. This was proven by their decision to vote for John Boehner, a former speaker and member of the old class of neoconservatives. Unfortunately for them, however, the country has changed, and so has the party.

Predictions