The House of Representatives still does not have a speaker following the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy as Republicans continue to debate who to put forth for the full chamber’s consideration.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) won the internal Republican Party nomination on Friday afternoon to become its choice for speaker, but the party was not united. Jordan won the vote 124-81, beating solo surprise challenger Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA), who had announced his bid just hours before, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Later in the day, in a secret ballot meant to test support among House Republicans, 152 voted for Jordan, and 55 voted against him, leaving him far short of the votes needed to ensure a victory on the floor.
Republicans faced a similar situation Thursday night when Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) won an internal party vote but failed to unify party members on the House floor.
“I just shared with my colleagues that I’m withdrawing my name as candidate for the speaker designee,” Scalise said Thursday night, according to NBC News.
“Our conference still has to come together and is not there. There are still some people that have their own agendas,” he claimed. “This House of Representatives needs a speaker, and we need to open up the House again. But clearly, not everybody is there. And there are still schisms that have to get resolved.”
Scalise won the Thursday vote against Jordan, who subsequently emerged as the favorite to win the speakership, with endorsements from a diverse set of Republicans such as McCarthy, former President Trump, and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Republicans also debated a series of amendments to their speakership voting process but decided against the changes Friday, according to The New York Times.
McCarthy (R-CA) was removed from the speakership last week, marking the first time in history the highest-ranking member of the House was voted out by members. McCarthy vowed not to run for the speakership again, as reported by The Dallas Express.
However, at least one Republican House member expressed a desire for McCarthy to return to the speaker’s chair.
“Look, if you listen to Kevin McCarthy’s words, he said he doesn’t want to be nominated, but he’s also said he was willing to abide by the will of the conference. It’s time for the conference to draft Kevin McCarthy,” Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-FL) said Friday morning, Fox News reported. “We need our speaker back, and we need to move forward with the business of America.”
