The House of Representatives failed to elect a speaker Wednesday for the second day in a row, as Rep. Jim Jordan was unable to rally a Republican majority to back his bid.
Jordan (R-OH) received 199 votes for speaker, while House Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) received 212 votes, and other Republicans received 22 votes. Monday’s speaker vote total put Jordan at 200 tallies — 17 short of the total needed to win the job.
The House has gone 14 days without a speaker since Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was removed from the position earlier this month — the first time the chamber voted to boot its leader in U.S. history, as reported by The Dallas Express. The House is now in recess.
Jordan was seen speaking to a variety of members on the House floor prior to the Wednesday vote, from Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) to several moderate members who voted against his speaker bid Monday such as Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY), according to PunchBowl.
Members of both parties discussed before the vote the possibility of voting to give McHenry full power as speaker pro tempore as the House continues to debate a permanent speaker. McHenry has served as a temporary speaker with limited power since McCarthy was voted out.
Jeffries himself said before the vote that House Democrats are open to the idea of a moderate coalition installing McHenry as speaker pro tempore.
“We’ll have to review it, but all options are on the table to end the Republican civil war,” Jeffries told reporters.
McHenry made clear prior to the vote that he opposes the effort and supports Jordan as speaker.
“The resolution is electing a speaker. That’s what we are trying to resolve today,” McHenry told reporters. “I want to elect Jim Jordan speaker, and that’s what we are going to the floor to do.”
This McHenry push appeared to lose momentum when the vote approached, as a motion to install him was not made.
Jordan’s speaker bid failed on the House floor Tuesday as he gained 200 votes, while 20 went to other Republicans, and the 212 Democrats united behind Jeffries, as reported by The Dallas Express.
House Republicans chose Jordan as their speaker candidate through an internal vote Friday. The Ohio congressman has since attempted to win over moderate members of the party and McCarthy loyalists unsure of their votes.
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) was the GOP’s first choice last week to succeed McCarthy, but he was unable to unify the party in private meetings to establish a majority vote. He dropped out of the race Thursday, and a House floor vote was never called.
The ongoing speaker debate comes as Congress attempts to pass government funding measures to avoid a shutdown next month. A bipartisan coalition in the House has discussed the need to provide emergency relief to Israel amid its escalated war with Hamar, as reported by The New York Times.