WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans picked a flameout senator. jim jordan The gavel is within reach of a staunch ally of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, who was chosen as the new nominee for Speaker of the House in a floor vote on Friday.
Electing Mr. Jordan, a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, to the most important position next to the president would bring the far-right Republican Party into the center of American power. A swell of prominent supporters, including Fox News’ Sean Hannity, publicly pressured members of Congress to vote Jordan into the speakership following his surprise ouster. kevin mccarthy.
At Ohio State, Jordan will now try to unite his deeply connected colleagues. House Republican majority split It is due for a public vote on the floor, and the vote could be postponed until next week. Friday’s secret vote split Republicans 124-81, but a second secret vote gave him an even higher number of votes.
“I think Jordan will do a great job,” McCarthy, R-Calif., said before the vote. “We have to get this back on track.”
Disgruntled House Republicans are locked in a heated battle over who should replace Mr. McCarthy as party leader after his unprecedented ouster by the president. a handful of hardliners. The stalemate between the factions, now in its second week, has thrown the House of Commons into chaos and brought all other business to a standstill.
Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary Committee and founder of the far-right Freedom Caucus, has quickly gained attention as the next candidate for majority leader. Steve Scalise When it became clear that the resistance would refuse to support his nomination, he abruptly terminated his bid.
But not all Republicans are looking to Jordan as speaker.
Jordan is known for closing alliance with trumpespecially as the then-president was working to overturn the 2020 election results leading to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
His rise has all but completed the party’s far-right shift and will strengthen Trump’s defense in four separate lawsuits involving election fraud over 2020. Jordan was Trump’s chief defender in Congress during the president’s impeachment proceedings over the January 6 attack.trump gave him an award freedom medal A few days later.
Congress’ efforts are almost certain to become routine, including funding the government by next month’s Nov. 17 deadline or risking a federal shutdown. Jordanian factions are already demanding deep budget cuts, which he has promised to deliver, and aid to Ukraine will be seriously jeopardized. The investigation into Mr. Biden and his family will move to the forefront.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries quickly gathered his party on the steps of the Capitol, urging Republicans to stop handing the gavel to Jordan, an “extreme extremist,” and urging Republicans to reopen the House. He urged them to cooperate towards this goal.
Overwhelmed, weary, and anxious Republicans worry that their House majority is being taken away by countless infightings and want to give the speaker’s gavel to the Jordan faction that started the chaos. Some people say no.
“If we’re going to be a majority party, we have to act like a majority party,” he said. Congressman Austin Scott (Republican, Georgia) A former president of the 2011 “Tea Party” freshman class, he posed one final challenge to Jordan.
Jordan’s vote tally on Friday wasn’t much better than his 113-99 loss to Scalise earlier in the week, indicating he has a long way to go. But in the second round of voting on Friday, he received 152-55 votes.
“He has a job to do,” said veteran Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho).
Jordan has many critics, but his supporters say he is so popular and well-known among conservative Republican voters that he won the popular vote on the House floor. said it would be more difficult to vote against his allies.
“I feel really good,” Jordan said heading into the morning meeting.
Without a speaker, the House of Representatives essentially cannot function during times of turmoil in the United States or wars overseas. There is increasing political pressure on Republicans to reverse course, reassert majority control, and control Congress.
The House is narrowly split 221-212 with two vacancies, meaning any candidate could lose several Republicans before facing Democratic opposition and falling short of the required majority of 217. be. Democrats are certain to support their own party’s leader, a New York congressman. . Hakeem Jeffries.
Absences could lower the required majority threshold, leaving Republicans with about 12 fewer members as of midday Friday. No floor vote was scheduled.
Other speaker candidates were also being floated. Some Republicans suggested simply nominating the appointee, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R.N.C. temporary speakerwill have more power to lead the House of Representatives for a while.
On Friday, California Republican Rep. Tom McClintock introduced a motion during a morning session to reinstate McCarthy, but it was shelved.
Mr. Scalise declined to express support for Mr. Jordan when announcing his decision to withdraw his nomination amid a bitter feud. “It must be people who aren’t doing it for themselves,” he said late Thursday.
But Mr. Jordan’s allies have geared up, seizing the chance for the far-right leader to take the gavel.
Mr. Jordan also got a key nod Friday from Republican campaign chairman Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., who aims to unify the party’s ranks.
“It was a mistake to fire Speaker Kevin McCarthy,” Hudson wrote on social media, saying the party was at a crossroads to stop Scalise. “We must unite around one leader.”
That all changed on Friday, just as a handful of Republicans announced they would not support Mr. Scalise, leaving the resistance to stick with someone other than Mr. Scalise, Mr. McCarthy or Jordan.
Mr. Trump, an early front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, expressed support for Jordan early on and repeatedly mentioned Mr. Scalise’s health in a radio interview aired Thursday.
Scalise is Diagnosed with a type of blood cancer Although he is currently receiving treatment, he said he is definitely motivated to work as a speaker.
Jordan himself faces questions about his past.A few years ago, Jordan and his office. deny the charges While he was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University, he was accused by former wrestlers of knowing about allegations that he was inappropriately molested by an Ohio State doctor. Jordan and his office said they had no knowledge that he had been abused.
The situation is not entirely different from earlier this year, when Mr. McCarthy faced similar backlash from other groups. far-right resistance They ultimately voted to elect him speaker and then orchestrated his historic ouster.
___
Associated Press writers Stephen Groves and Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.
