For the first time since 1923, no candidate had enough votes to win a majority on the first ballot during the vote for Speaker of the House Tuesday. Two hundred eighteen votes are needed to be chosen for the position. In a historic upset, neither the first nor second vote yielded enough votes for a nominee to be selected for the position. Republican Kevin McCarthy only received 202 votes. Democrat Hakeem Jeffries received 211, gaining the endorsement of his partisan party. Since winning the majority in November, many of the GOP America first House members stated they would not vote for McCarthy. They are making a statement by refusing to vote for the establishment pick during what is certain to be a critically important session of congress. Nineteen GOP votes were split between Republican Andy Biggs and other Republicans such as Jim Jordan.

The second vote for the Speaker of the House also failed to produce a new leader. The vote shift was slight, with McCarthy picking up one more vote, as did Jeffries.

Matt Gaetz nominated Jim Jordan, calling him the hardest-working, most talented option. Gaetz went on to say Jordan has more vision than McCarthy, who has “sold shares of himself for more than a decade.” He said Jordan would not fight them on balancing the budget, securing the border, or voting for term limits. The alternative has been someone helping cause the problems. Gaetz said,

“Maybe Jim Jordan is the right person for Speaker of the House because he is not beholden to the lobbyists and special interests who have corrupted this place and corrupted this nation under the leadership of both Republicans and Democrats,” 

“Matt Gaetz is hardcore and fearless! Love him. YOUR VOICE is finally being heard in a place that matters,” Maga 93 Tweeted.

 

Gaetz’s call to nominate Jordan came directly after Jordan encouraged Republicans to rally around Kevin McCarthy as their choice for Speaker. Jordan acknowledged that he and McCarthy,

“Haven’t always agreed on everything,” he continued, “I like his fight. I like his tenacity.”

“We need to rally around him,” Jordan said regarding McCarthy before laying out his priorities for the upcoming legislative session. Jordan’s priorities are passing bills that “fix the problems” related to immigration, energy policy, education policy, and inflation, and prevent massive spending packages from getting through. He also focused on congressional oversight and investigations. He urged the party to come together so they could fix the problems saying,

“That’s what the American people want us to do. They want us to fight for the things they care about, and they elected us to do,” Jordan continued,

“We should all remember — only about 12,000 people have ever had the opportunity to do what we’re doing today — sit in this body, serve in this Congress. It is a privilege. It is an opportunity. We owe it to them, the American people, the good people of this great country, to step forward, to come together, get a speaker elected so we can address these three things.”

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.


We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.