Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said Thursday he’s still in the running to become House Speaker.

Although 22 Republicans voted against Jordan in the second round of voting, he remained persistent to flip his detractors.

“I’m still running for Speaker and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race,” he said.

Jordan noted he wanted to speak with his 20 colleagues who voted against him on the House Floor.

WATCH:

UPDATE

Jim Jordan has failed to secure House Speaker in the third House Floor vote.

“Rep. Jim Jordan loses in third attempt at Speaker vote, despite meeting individually with dissenters,” investigative reporter Paul Sperry commented.

USA Today reports:

Jordan lost the third speaker vote, failing to garner enough support behind him and only losing more support among House Republicans.

Like with the second ballot, his detractors only grew in numbers − this time to 25 − making Jordan’s path to the speakership more uncertain.

It is unclear if a fourth vote will be held and whether lawmakers will stay in session through the weekend.

From The Post Millennial:

“Jim is the right person to take that seat behind me and be the Speaker of the House,” said Rep. Kevin McCarthy, rising on the House floor to nominate Ohio’s Jim Jordan for the office ahead of the third failed vote. A fourth vote may be forthcoming.

The floor saw the third vote to solidify a leader of that body on Friday, and again, the House, and the American people, came up empty handed. Jordan needed 217 votes, but he only got 194, while 25 voted against his leadership. In the last round, he earned 199.

According to the Daily Caller, some House Republicans voted against Jordan to ‘spite Matt Gaetz.’

Per Daily Caller:

A number of House Republicans believe many of their colleagues who have voted against House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan to be the next Speaker of the House are doing so to spite Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, the Daily Caller has learned.

Gaetz, who forced the motion to vacate the chair vote in early October that successfully removed Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy from office, has continued to face criticism from many House Republicans for going against the status quo and holding McCarthy’s feet to the fire.

Many Republicans who are voting for Jordan and also voted to remove McCarthy as Speaker are saying they believe it could be seen as a win for Gaetz if someone such as Jordan was elected Speaker, instead of a more moderate candidate such as House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who dropped out of the race to support Jordan.

“I have been told by a good number of people that their objection isn’t personal to Jim, it is that voting in Jordan is perceived to be rewarding Matt Gaetz and the rest of the eight. Others have indicated that some of Jim’s supporters wouldn’t support Scalise and so the holdouts won’t support Jordan,” Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs told the Caller.

Although it didn’t impact the outcome, one of Jim Jordan’s supporters sporadically departed for Israel before the House Speaker vote.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) decided his ‘fact-finding mission’ in Israel was more important than serving his constituents in Congress.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

With the House paralyzed and Republicans unable to find a path to electing a leader, Wisconsin freshman Rep. Derrick Van Orden left Capitol Hill for Israel Thursday evening in what he described as a fact-finding mission amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas.

“After retiring from the military in 2014, I made a solemn promise to the Jewish people that if anything like what took place on October 7, 2023 were to ever happen, that I would help them and their nation to the best of my ability,” Van Orden, who served as a Navy SEAL for 26 years, wrote in a lengthy statement obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I am keeping that promise.”

The intent of the trip, Van Orden said, is primarily “to witness what has and is taking place so that I can speak from an informed position” about the violence on the ground in Israel. He arrived in Israel Friday morning and planned to visit medical facilities and meet with citizens and military and government officials to get “a holistic understanding of the current and future” needs.

 

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