Jim Jordan’s vote count is ‘going to be going backwards,’ Nebraska congressman predicts,
Jim Jordan’s vote tally is ‘going backwards’, a Republican congressman has pointed out, as he predicted that the controversial hardline Ohioan would fail to be elected as House speaker.
Jordan held a first vote on his candidacy on Tuesday, and a second on Wednesday – which saw him win even less votes than the first.
A third vote is planned for Thursday, and Jordan’s allies are desperately trying to win over doubters.
Don Bacon, a Nebraska congressman, said his wife had received anonymous text messages threatening him unless he voted for Jordan. Bacon said Jordan stood no chance in future votes.
‘We’re confident next vote he gonna lose five or six more votes,’ Bacon told Fox News on Wednesday. ‘He’s gonna be going backwards.’
Don Bacon on Wednesday told Fox News that Jim Jordan would not be elected speaker of the House
A handful of disgruntled Republicans immediately voted against Jim Jordan on Wednesday
Twenty-two of Jordan’s disgruntled GOP colleagues – two more than on Tuesday – voted against him on Wednesday.
‘I believe he’s done,’ Bacon told CNN.
Angie Bacon, his wife, received a text message saying: ‘Your husband better support Jim Jordan.’
Another text said: ‘Your husband will not hold any political office ever again.’
A third said: ‘What a disappoint [sic] and failure he is.’
Bacon voted for Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday – landing another blow to Jordan’s vote tally.
Another to be named in the vote tally was former speaker John Boehner – who resigned in 2015, and now works as a lobbyist.
The disarray among House Republicans has no end in sight, two weeks after McCarthy became the first speaker in history to be ousted.
Since then, the House has been paralyzed and unable to do business with less than a month until the government shuts down again.
Now, there are questions of what the conference can do next to avoid the shambolic scenario from January, where it took 15 ballots to elect McCarthy.
With the GOP’s narrow majority, Jordan could only afford to lose four votes on the floor with the GOP’s razor-thin majority.
On Tuesday, 20 Republicans voted against Jordan, destroying his chance to become speaker in the first round of voting. He met the same fate on Wednesday in the second round of voting
Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry might be the clearest path toward getting a more long-term speaker solution
‘People keep making it about these personal issues they have with other members and I think that’s a reason why we need term limits in Congress,’ a frustrated Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., a staunch Jordan supporter, told DailyMail.com after the vote.
Meanwhile those who have opposed Jordan have reportedly been getting threats from local conservative leaders claiming they would be out of a job if they did not vote for the Ohio firebrand.
For moderates, it could be a choice between voting against Jordan and risking a right-wing primary challenge and voting for Jordan and angering independent-minded voters.
‘He’s got the American people behind him,’ Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said of Jordan, predicting he would become speaker eventually.
‘Every one of these guys, they’re getting a lot of phone calls, and they should,’ he told DailyMail.com. ‘He’s an American hero.’
Rep. Mike Garcia, a moderate Republican from California, suggested Republicans take a field trip to Gettysburg to work on unity.
‘It sounds it sounds silly but let’s go to Gettysburg or something. Let’s go to somewhere that is meaningful to our nation’s history so that the Republican Party can once again remember why we do what we do.’
Republican Rep. Dave Joyce, Ohio, is expected to nominate interim Speaker Patrick McHenry for the top job on a short-term basis following Jordan’s defeat. Support for that move is divided among Republicans, meaning it would require buy-in from Democrats.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said doing so would be ‘contrary to the Constitution’ and ‘would do enormous damage to the House.’
On Tuesday, 20 Republicans voted against Jordan, destroying his chance to become speaker in the first ballot. He lost two more GOP votes in the second round.
Jordan, chair of the powerful Judiciary Committee and Freedom Caucus co-founder, had broad appeal from the right wing of his party but moderates and pragmatic conservatives were angry about the process by which he had come to the speaker nomination.
Donald Trump endorsed Jordan for the top Republican position, and reiterated his support in a post to Truth Social on Tuesday.
‘Jim Jordan will be a GREAT Speaker of the House. As everyone knows, I have long ago given him my Complete and Total Endorsement!’
Democrats remain united around Hakeem Jeffries, who serves as minority leader.