Rep Jim Jordan speaks with reporters after a House Republican Conference meeting during which Rep. Steve Scalise withdrew from the race for Speaker of the House on Oct. 12, 2src23. | Francis Chung/POLITICO
The House GOP has entered an angrier and more bewildered phase in its leadership crisis.
The fractious Republican conference has rejected a second speaker hopeful in eight days â this time, Kevin McCarthyâs longtime heir apparent, Steve Scalise. While Republicans appear to be turning next to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), some are already airing open doubts that Jordan can pull off what the majority leader couldnât.
The lesson Republicans have learned in the frenetic week since McCarthyâs fall: They have no clear choice for leader who can unite their ranks â no matter how long this drags out and their chamber of Congress is paralyzed.
Itâs not just GOP centrists sparring with the hard right. Itâs not just McCarthy loyalists secretly fuming at Scalise or his allies. Thereâs mounting anger across the entire conference that no GOP speaker candidate, including Jordan, appears able to prevail under the current margins.
âWe need to all recognize that this is much bigger than just one person or any single personâs petty feelings,â said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), who had voted for Jordan but publicly backed Scalise after he won the internal election.
It wonât be easy for any candidate to get past the internal spats that have only worsened as the GOPâs speaker fight drags on with no end in sight.
âPersonally, I think it may end up being a compromise candidate,â Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) said. While Murphy said there was âno doubtâ Jordan would run, he acknowledged that getting the needed 217 GOP votes is âgoing to be hard.â
Some Scalise backers are particularly incensed over how Jordan handled losing to the Louisianan after the internal election this week.
âAbsolutely not,â Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), a Scalise ally, said when asked if sheâd back Jordan. âYesterday in conference, he gave the most disgraceful, ungracious â I canât call it a concession speech â of all time. There were gasps in the room.â
Wagner then recalled another moment that lost Jordan her support. It took place during a private meeting between Scalise and Jordan, less than an hour after the majority leader won the House GOPâs internal speaker ballot. Wagner wasnât in the room, but she remained outside in Scaliseâs office and took in the immediate aftermath.
According to Wagner and other House Republicans briefed on the meeting, Jordan said to Scalise: âYou get one ballot. And when you go down, you will nominate me.â
She said Scalise pushed back, arguing he had won by the conference rules, to which Jordan replied: âAmerica wants me,â before storming out the door.
Russell Dye, Jordanâs spokesperson, denied that Wagnerâs recollection was accurate and noted that she was not part of the conversation directly.
âThis was an entirely cordial conversation and Mr. Scalise said he wanted to go to the floor right away, so Mr. Jordan offered to nominate him on the floor, and requested that if we had to go to the floor and Mr. Scalise didnât have the votes â he nominate Mr. Jordan, the only other announced candidate for speaker,â Dye said in a statement.
Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) also said on Thursday night that he wonât support Jordan in a floor vote. Other Scalise allies described themselves similarly to POLITICO, largely on condition of anonymity, as opposed to the Ohioan. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) is among those signaling frustration and could also oppose Jordan.
âHe doesnât have the majority now. He had less votes than Steve Scalise â significantly less than Kevin McCarthy,â Rutherford told POLITICO leaving conference, adding that he is trying to get McCarthy back into the speakerâs chair.
âWeâre going to have the same problem with Jordan that we had with Scalise,â said Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.), even as he made clear that he supports the Ohioan. âI think itâs a math problem.â
Just as Scalise did, Jordan â whoâs not yet officially announced a repeat bid for speaker â faces pockets of opposition from many sides of the House GOP. While Jordan is beloved by conservatives, he faces skepticism from senior and more establishment Republicans turned off by his rabble-rousing days as a Freedom Caucus founder. Some centrists in purple districts, too, are uneasy that an ultraconservative Speaker Jordan might sink their already fragile majority.
The conference is expected to meet Friday for yet another private gathering, where GOP lawmakers plan to discuss their leadership hole. Jordan is expected to formally announce his bid at that time. (His allies in the Freedom Caucus have not stopped pushing his name, even after his Wednesday secret-ballot loss to Scalise.)
âSteve Scalise is a great American. Weâre gonna come together tomorrow as a conference and figure this all out,â Jordan told reporters. âAny type of announcement about what may or may not happen is best done tomorrow.â
Some centrists say they plan to oppose Jordan on a first ballot out of frustration with his core base in the Freedom Caucus, whose members first undercut McCarthy before taking down Scalise. In both cases, they went against the majority of the conference. And these Republicans do not want to reward them.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) signaled on Thursday night that heâs not yet sold on backing Jordan, saying he wants to âchewâ on it, but warned against rewarding the Ohio Republicanâs backers who refused to support Scalise.
âWhat bothers some of us is that we had some members who said they would only vote for him. They wouldnât support the guy who won,â he said.
Other vulnerable members in tough Biden districts who have signaled discontent with the right flank of the conference are also viewed as potential ânoâ votes for Jordan. One prominent voice in that camp, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), declined to say on Thursday night if he would vote for the Ohio Republican.
But Jordan may not be the only contender to choose from by the time House Republicans vote again. Several, including those who have opposed the Ohio Republican from the start, have been floating alternatives. Centrists, in particular, noted that the idea of Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) as a consensus candidate is picking up steam.
McHenry has insisted in recent days that he wasnât considering the top post. But speaking to reporters on Thursday night, he didnât rule it out.
Others are curious if another member of leadership like Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), who was running for majority leader before Scalise decided to abandon the speakerâs race, will step up to challenge Jordan. Other members of leadership, like Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y), are also mum on what position they might seek.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who had refused to back Scalise, floated Jordan, Hern and House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) as possible picks, as well as a former member, Lee Zeldin.
Hern, however, said itâs Jordanâs turn to try to win over 217 votes â for now.
âWe should give him an opportunity,â Hern said. âLetâs give him a chance and see if he can get 217.â
This post originally appeared on and written by:
By Sarah Ferris, Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney
Politico