OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is no longer a candidate for speaker after members ousted him following a failed third vote on Friday.
The GOP Conference voted to remove Jordan’s name as a speaker candidate in a closed-door vote earlier in the day, with 25 Republicans voting against the Ohio Republican—far short of the approximately 217 he would need to win the speaker’s race.
Jordan had previously indicated he was ready to push for votes through the weekend to secure the gavel.
“Our plan this weekend is to get a speaker elected to the House of Representatives as soon as possible so we can help the American people,” Jordan told reporters ahead of the failed third vote.
The failure to elect Jordan outraged conservative lawmakers and pundits. But the Ohio Republican has remained a good sport about the Speaker race and vowed to help Republicans in any way that he can.
“Imagine how much healthier the Republican Party would be with Jim Jordan as Speaker, Rick Scott as Senate Minority Leader, and Harmeet Dhillon as RNC Chair,” Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk wrote on the X platform.
“Instead the swamp knifes them all in the back. Pretty unbelievable how devoted the Republican establishment is to bombing foreign countries, keeping our border open, and spending us into oblivion. Sad!” he added.
“Welcome to the swamp, where Republican voters spend a week asking their Reps to vote Jim Jordan Speaker and 20 Republicans decide to vote against him for no articulate reason at all and then he gets dropped in a secret vote behind closed doors,” conservative influence Greg Price noted.
“Jim Jordan gave it his all. He was the best Speaker candidate to reform Congress’s spending addiction that’s been bankrupting our country,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) wrote. “But sadly today the GOP conference met privately and ended his candidacy by a vote of 112 to 86. I would have voted 1000 rounds for Jim.”
“The Republican Party is non-existent. Time for an America First party. Railroading Jim Jordan was the final straw. If he could not secure Speaker of the House, no ‘America First’ rep can,” another user wrote.
There was a closed-door candidate forum for the position of House Republican speaker tonight. On Tuesday, the conference will choose the next round of nominations.
In order to be elected, a candidate needs 217 votes from House members. There are only 221 Republicans in the House, and conservative and moderate factions are split over who should be the leader, making it difficult to cross the threshold.
Already, two of the Republican nominees have resigned. The initial nominee, Louisiana Representative Steve Scalise, withdrew his name when it became clear he would not receive a majority vote in the House. Then Jim Jordan of Ohio was nominated, but he never received a majority in any of the three votes held on the floor. After fellow Republicans voted to withdraw his nomination on Friday, he decided to withdraw from the race.
To date, eight people have declared their candidacies: Minnesota’s Tom Emmer, Louisiana’s Mike Johnson, Michigan’s Jack Bergman, Florida’s Byron Donalds, Oklahoma’s Kevin Hern, Alabama’s Gary Palmer, Georgia’s Austin Scott, and Texas’ Pete Sessions.
At the candidate forum, Pennsylvanian Dan Meuser announced that he was dropping out of the race.
On October 3, a faction within the Republican Party led an effort to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., setting off the conflict. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) has been acting speaker for the past 20 days, but his authority is limited.
Republicans will cast their votes in secret beginning at 9 a.m. ET. Whoever receives the fewest votes in the first round of voting will be eliminated from further consideration as a candidate for speaker. That means seven people will advance to Round 2. Six by Round 3, and so on.
When one person gains the support of the majority, the decision is final. Even if other candidates remain, he is the designated speaker.
Once a nominee has been made, 217 votes will be required on the House floor before that person can assume the role of speaker. The timing of that vote on Tuesday is uncertain.
