Jim Jordan fails to win House speakership on first ballot

Rep. Carlos Gimenez leaves a House Republican Conference speaker of the house meeting in Longworth Building on Friday, October 13, 2023.

GOP Rep. Carlos Gimenez, who voted for Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker during the last vote, said he would never vote for Rep. Jim Jordan but would consider voting for other candidates.

On Jordan, Gimenez said, “his tactics certainly didn’t work on me. Actually, I became more cemented in my position.”

“You don’t push people into leadership that I have to follow you. I’ll follow you if you’re a leader,” he added.

While Gimenez said Jordan never threatened him with a primary challenge, he wouldn’t say whether others had made that threat, which he said he was not afraid of. He said his office had received a lot of calls insinuating that he was supporting Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries which he said was not true. 

Gimenez said the votes against Jordan were higher than he expected — going into the vote he thought the “no” votes would hover around seven. At the end of the vote, 20 Republicans did not vote for Jordan.

He warned that if Republicans cannot unite behind a candidate soon for speaker, he’d vote to empower Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry to have more power.  

Gimenez said he would continue to vote for McCarthy. 

“I’m not going to be part of a coup,” Gimenez said. “I don’t know why we’re settling. We should go back to what we had. He was a great speaker, really good for our conference, had worked to build our majority here, and was working to build an even greater majority.”

GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a longtime Rep. Kevin McCarthy ally who voted for him on the first ballot in the speaker vote, told reporters he will vote for Rep. Jim Jordan on the second ballot.

LaMalfa said he was surprised by how many of his colleagues were against Jordan in the first ballot saying, “I thought it’d be a little narrower number than that.”  

He added that Jordan is going to need to do “some good listening” to narrow the gap.

When asked if he believed there was still a path for Jordan, LaMalfa said, “I believe it can happen, but we’ll just see.” 

LaMalfa said he never talked to McCarthy about his vote. 

After failing to win the House speakership on the first ballot, GOP Rep. Jim Jordan is now meeting with members to attempt to win over holdouts. 

He’s meeting with them in the cloak room off the House floor.

The House went into recess immediately after the vote, in which 20 of Jordan’s fellow Republicans voted against him. A source told CNN Jordan is prepared to go as many ballots as it takes to win.

Twenty Republicans did not vote for Rep. Jim Jordan in his first attempt to win the House speakership.

Some of those lawmakers voted for Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Steve Scalise. Others voted for former Rep. Lee Zeldin.

Here are the Republicans who did not vote for Jordan: 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sits on the floor as he is nominated for the Democrat candidate for Speaker of the House as the House of Representatives prepares to vote on a new Speaker at the U.S. Capitol Building on October 17, in Washington, DC.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, with the full backing of the Democratic party, won 212 votes, more than the 200 cast for GOP Rep. Jim Jordan — but that doesn’t mean Jeffries wins the gavel.

Any candidate must win 50%, plus one, of the votes from all House members present and voting. The current enrollment of the House is 433, so 217 votes are necessary if every member is present.

That means, with a Republican majority in the House, Jeffries would need to convince at least five Republicans to cross the aisle and cast their vote for the Democratic representative.

That magic number, though, could change depending on absences in the House.

The House just went into recess immediately after the vote was gaveled.

Rep. Jim Jordan reacts as he appears to come up short of the number of votes needed to be elected Speaker during the first round of voting for a new Speaker on the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.

GOP nominee for House speaker Jim Jordan was unable to secure the gavel on the first vote.

Jordan could only afford to lose three votes from Republicans during the vote if all Democrats are present. He earned 200 votes, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries won 212. Another 20 fellow Republicans voted against Jordan.

The 20 Republicans who voted against Jordan included House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado and a quartet of New York Republicans in purple districts.

The anti-Jordan contingent cast six votes for McCarthy, seven votes for Scalise and three for former New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin, among other alternatives.

Rep. Jim Jordan stands and talks with Republican House Whip Rep. Tom Emmer as they discuss the tally of the first round of voting, as the House votes for a new speaker, at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.

An ally of Rep. Jim Jordan said “This is much worse than we expected.”

Jordan failed to win the speakership on the first vote.

He earned 200 votes while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries won 212 votes. Twenty Republicans appear to have voted against Jordan.

Rep. Dan Meuser, another GOP ally of Jordan, said the conference needs to get it together and just elect Jordan and stop dragging this out. 

“Wake up and stop this nonsense. There’s real serious work to be done,” he said. 

He said he’s tired of McCarthy and Scalise allies standing in the way. 

“So what, so that was done, there were 8 that created all kinds of destruction. Why are we going to prolong these setbacks? I had a couple say that to me now, ‘we didn’t start this.’ I don’t know, I haven’t heard that since the playground.”

Asked what comes next, he didn’t know how Jordan would proceed and if he’d try for another vote tonight. 

In this 2019 photo, Rep. Rep. Kay Granger departs a meeting with U.S. House-Senate conferees, to receive a closed briefing from U.S. Border Patrol career professionals, who discuss "the challenges they face protecting the U.S.-Mexico border," at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.

Rep. Kay Granger, a key Republican on the Appropriations Committee, did not vote for Rep. Jim Jordan for speaker, underscoring concerns some members of the GOP have about spending, a CNN congressional correspondent said.

In trying to get votes for the speakership, Jordan told lawmakers that he had a plan for how he would deal with the upcoming government funding deadline. He told his conference he wanted to use a 1% cut to try to negotiate with the White House to cut spending, CNN’s Lauren Fox said.

Granger not voting for Jordan could signify Jordan’s plan didn’t really work, Fox said in her analysis.

“It’s clear that that did not really assuage some of the concerns from Republicans,” Fox said, adding that the 1% could have an effect on military preparations, which could have worried some Republicans.

Rep. Jim Jordan does not appear to have the votes to win the gavel so far as voting wraps up on the House floor, and 20 Republicans appear to have voted against him.

The vote tally is not final until the gavel comes down.

The Ohio Republican could only afford to lose three GOP votes if every Democrat was present. A candidate needs a majority of the full House to be elected.

After the initial speaker vote, the clerk called the names of the members who did not answer the first call of the roll. 

Several members still did not vote.

Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy talks with U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan during the first round of voting for a new Speaker of the House on the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.

Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted as speaker two weeks ago, voted for the member of his party seeking to replace him, Rep. Jim Jordan, during a first round of floor voting Tuesday.

After McCarthy voted for Jordan, scattered applause broke out among GOP members inside the chamber.

Rep. Steve Scalise also voted for Jordan during the first call of the roll. Scalise was initially nominated for speaker by the Republicans after McCarthy’s ouster but bowed out when it became apparent that he didn’t have the votes to win.

Neither McCarthy nor Scalise are running for speaker at this moment however, several members of the GOP voted for each of them during Tuesday’s first round of voting.

Those votes — and others cast by Republicans for people other than Jordan — are currently preventing Jordan from winning the speakership. Jordan — or any other GOP speaker candidate — can only afford to lose three Republican votes if all Democrats are present.

During the vote, McCarthy sat behind Jordan. The pair spoke at one point as it became clear Jordan was not going to get the votes on the first ballot. Both kept their facial expressions pretty much neutral the whole time. 

Rep. Jim Jordan listens to nomination speeches for Speaker of the House as the House of Representatives prepares to vote on a new Speaker at the U.S. Capitol Building on October 17, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Rep. Jim Jordan does not appear to have the votes to win the gavel so far as voting on the House floor continues.

Jordan — or any other GOP speaker candidate — can only afford to lose three Republican votes if all Democrats are present.

Remember: Members can change their vote until the gavel comes down.

Members of the US House of Representatives gather for a vote on the nomination of Representative Jim Jordan, of Ohio, as new Speaker of the House, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 17, 2023. 

The House is now starting its first round of voting to elect a speaker.

The GOP has nominated Rep. Jim Jordan and the Democrats have nominated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.

Voting will be done verbally with members called by name alphabetically and then stating their choice for speaker. Members can also choose to vote present. If a member doesn’t vote, they will get a chance to vote at the end of the roll call. 

Remember: Members can change their vote until the gavel comes down.

House GOP Chair Elise Stefanik is now speaking, nominating Rep. Jim Jordan as House speaker. 

Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, is expected to nominate House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.

Rep. Jim Jordan, the top contender in the race to be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, arrives inside the House Chamber prior to the first vote for a new Speaker of the House at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.

While some Republicans have agreed to back Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan on the first ballot, they have not all committed to voting for him on multiple rounds in the same way they did for Rep. Kevin McCarthy in January – signaling a potential problem for Jordan if he doesn’t sew up the speakership relatively quickly.

Rep. Mike Garcia told CNN “we’ll see” when asked if he would continue backing Jordan.

“If there’s a breaking point and he’s not making progress,” then some people may start to peel off, Garcia said.

Rep. French Hill, a McCarthy ally, was also non-committal when asked by CNN about how many rounds he would continue vouching for Jordan and mentioned how frustrated he was that Jordan vowed to take this fight to the floor before having 217 votes after saying Rep. Steve Scalise shouldn’t go to the floor until he had it locked up.

Rep. Michael McCaul said on CNN “if it doesn’t work, then we’re kind of back to, alright, maybe we ought to look at Kevin McCarthy again.”

 While Jordan has significantly shrank his opposition over the past few days, some of that support is soft – meaning the risk for Jordan is that he could start to lose support if the race drags on.

But his allies believe that if he can get at least as many supporters as McCarthy did on the first ballot – 201 Republicans – then he will be in good shape to grind it out on the floor.

A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Jordan is willing to go as many ballots as it takes to win.

GOP lawmakers are trying to convince holdouts to vote present to help lower the threshold needed to elect Rep. Jim Jordan as speaker.

Jordan — or any other GOP speaker candidate — can only afford to lose a small number of Republican votes, because a speaker needs a majority of the full House to be elected. 

A source familiar with the matter told CNN Jordan is prepared to go as many ballots as it takes to win.

House Democrats, many of whom had massive distrust with Kevin McCarthy by the end of his speakership, are loathe to see Jim Jordan become the next representative with the gavel.

In interviews with half a dozen Democrats this morning, many say that Jordan is not only the face of the impeachment against President Joe Biden, but he is also a close ally to former President Donald Trump who communicated with the White House and Trump in the days and hours leading up to January 6 and unlike McCarthy — who backtracked weeks later — never held Trump responsible for the insurrection at the Capitol. 

Rep. Jim McGovern, who was the last House member on the floor on January 6, told CNN the idea of Jordan as speaker was “disgusting” and that it is as if “Halloween has come early.” 

The threat of potentially having Jordan as speaker has many Democrats openly suggesting alternative consensus candidates.

Rep. Jamie Raskin suggested Liz Cheney, who would have a hard time getting Republican support. Steny Hoyer said Democrats have been having some conversations with their colleagues about a GOP alternative that could attract some Democratic support and other Democrats say they could back a Republican alternative if there was agreement on military aid to Ukraine and to fund the government. 

On the flip side, if Jordan is elected, Democrats do see Jordan as an easy campaign target that could help them win back the majority in 2024.

A memo issued today by the executive director of the Democratic National Committee characterizes Jordan as a “MAGA firebrand and partisan extremist” Democrats can use as a foil for 2024. 

If Jordan ascends to the speakership, Democrats believe Jordan, as a key face of the Republican Party, will be a liability with general election voters based on his positions on abortion and government shutdowns among other issues. The memo goes on to characterize Jordan as “Trump’s chief election denier in Congress.”

“As Rep. Jim Jordan prepares to hold the gavel, he’s set to become the Republican chaos conference’s most extreme speaker yet – and Republicans nationwide will be forced to answer for his unpopular track record in 2024,” the memo reads. 

A source familiar says the memo was sent to key stakeholders, including DNC surrogates and state parties, to drive messaging around the 2024 election.

The House is now starting a call of the House, a roll call of members.

NOTE: This is not the speaker’s vote — the speaker’s vote will come after.

However, this vote is significant because it will give us our first chance to see how many members are present and what the absences are, a key factor in determining the majority vote threshold for the speaker election.

As Rep. Jim Jordan fights to lock down the votes with GOP moderates to become speaker, some of the more right-wing members of the conference are warning they could have concerns with Jordan if he makes certain commitments on government funding and Ukraine aid. 

Central to Jordan’s pitch has been his plan to keep the government open, which includes a short-term spending bill. How Jordan navigates government funding will be his first major test if he becomes speaker, and he will have to navigate the same pitfalls and traps that Rep. Kevin McCarthy tried to navigate and was ousted over. 

GOP Rep. Andy Biggs, who voted against the short-term spending bill on September 30 told CNN that another short-term extension would be “legislative malpractice.” 

Biggs said he has told Jordan he wants to see him push the single-subject bills first before jumping right to a continuing resolution.

GOP Rep. Bob Good, another far-right Republican against a short-term spending bill told CNN, “I’ve endorsed Jim Jordan as the person I believe is the best candidate to get 217 votes, and that would unite the conference in a way that reflects the conservative base of our party. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to agree with him on every policy decision.”

Part of why Jordan’s pitch to keep the government open is a hard sell is because even he voted against keeping the government open on September 30. 

GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden told CNN Jordan was pressed on that point during the candidate forum. 

“He was asked directly that question and he gave a very satisfactory answer” Van Orden told CNN. 

Another point of tension could come over Ukraine aid. 

While Jordan’s team has told CNN he will work to figure out the right approach and has not made commitments to tying Ukraine aid with aid for Israel, some Republicans are really pushing that to happen.

But other hardliners, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have repeatedly said that is a red line. 

Rep. Jim Jordan arrives at the US Capitol ahead of today's planned Speaker of the House vote in the House of Representatives on October 17, in Washington, DC.

GOP speaker nominee Jim Jordan projected confidence ahead of today’s critical floor vote, saying that he’ll do whatever it takes to have a speaker elected today. 

“I feel really good,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju. “Whatever it takes to get a speaker today.”

He added: “We need to get a speaker today, and we feel really good about where we’re at.”

Jordan would not answer when CNN asked him about Rep. Ken Buck’s concerns over former President Donald Trump’s false election claims on the 2020 election. 

Jordan also noted that he has been picking up support daily and that he hasn’t urged Trump to help him in the race.

“We’ve been picking up support every day. And so it’s been, I mean I feel confident,” he said, adding later: “I haven’t talked to the president in a couple days.”

A source familiar with the matter tells CNN that Jordan is prepared to go as many ballots as necessary to win. The source says Jordan will be closer than Rep. Kevin McCarthy was on his first ballot back in January. McCarthy was down 19 points on the first ballot. The source says he’ll go “as many as it takes.” 

Former President Donald Trump has spent the last several days calling allies on Capitol Hill to get a read on the speaker’s race and the current vote count but is not actively whipping votes for Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, multiple sources familiar with his outreach tell CNN. 

Speaking during a break from his civil fraud trial Tuesday, Trump said he thinks Jordan will get the votes needed to win the House speakership. 

“As you know many people have now supported him. Twenty-four hours ago they were supporting somebody else. There seems to be great unification,” Trump said. “I think Jim Jordan will be a great speaker I think he’ll be — I think he’s going to have the vote soon if not today over the next day or two and I think he’ll end up being a great speaker.”

Several allies close to Trump advised the former president to sit back and let Jordan work to secure the votes, sources said, particularly after Trump issued a full-throated endorsement last week of Jordan, who then lost the nomination to Steve Scalise. 

Early Tuesday ahead of the speaker vote, Trump posted another endorsement for Jordan on Truth Social.

“He wants to get credit if Jordan wins,” one source familiar with his thinking told CNN. “And he should just like with Kevin [McCarthy].”

Some close to Trump were hoping that the former president would get behind Scalise after he won the House GOP nomination. Trump has been complimentary of Scalise privately, however, he mentioned repeatedly to several different sources that Scalise had not endorsed him in his third presidential bid, as Jordan had.  

Trump and Scalise spoke by phone after the Louisiana congressman secured the nomination but Trump never publicly backed him and instead implied he might not be able to do the job because of his health. 

“Steve is a man that is in serious trouble, from the standpoint of his cancer. I mean, he’s got to get better. For himself. I’m not talking about even country now, I’m saying, got to get better,” Trump said in an interview. “I want Steve to get well. I just don’t know how you can do the job when you have such a serious problem.”

Rep. Jim Jordan arrives as House Republicans meet behind closed doors to try to unite around him as their new nominee for speaker at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 16.

Rep. Jim Jordan won the support of several key skeptics in the Republican conference Monday, bolstering momentum for his bid for speaker ahead of a planned floor vote on Tuesday.

House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers and House Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert — two key defense hawks, the GOP bloc perhaps most weary of Jordan — announced Monday morning they would back Jordan on the House floor. And Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri, who called Jordan a “non-starter” for speaker last week, said Monday that she would support the Ohio Republican, too — as did Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida, another previous holdout.

Even with the additional support, Jordan still faces an uphill climb to be elected speaker. On the floor, he can afford to lose only four Republicans if every member votes, because a speaker needs a majority of the full House to be elected.

Jordan told CNN he will go to the floor for a speaker vote at noon ET Tuesday, whether or not he has the votes locked up. “I think the only way to do this, the way the Founders intended, is you … have to vote tomorrow,” Jordan said. “We set it for 12 p.m. ET. I feel good about it.”

Asked if he would go to a second ballot, Jordan said: “We are going to elect a speaker tomorrow.”

Here’s what is at stake: If Jordan is able to secure the votes to become speaker Tuesday, it would put an end to a chaotic and unprecedented two weeks in the House following McCarthy’s ouster. Without a speaker, the House is unable to pass legislation despite the international crises and a government shutdown one month away, though some members have explored empowering interim Speaker Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican who was appointed to the position following Kevin McCarthy’s ousting.

But if Jordan is unable to corral enough support to win a floor vote, Republicans would be back at square one, leaving the House in a speakerless paralysis.

The public’s impressions of the Republican Party and its leaders in Congress have worsened amid a leadership crisis in the House of Representatives, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, with Republican-aligned Americans divided over how the GOP should govern.

Even then – and with most Americans expressing anger at both parties’ handling of the country’s problems – the public continues to prefer the Republican Party’s leadership to that from the White House: 54% say they have more confidence in Republicans in Congress than in President Joe Biden to tackle the major issues facing the country, while 45% have more confidence in Biden’s leadership, unchanged since this summer.

Half of Americans approve of the removal of Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, 49% disapprove, according to the poll, which was conducted after the October 3 vote to depose him from that role. Nearly half, 46%, have an unfavorable view of the now-former speaker, 21% have a favorable view of him and about a third express no opinion. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who brought the motion to vacate that led to McCarthy’s ouster, is also deeply underwater, with 44% holding an unfavorable view of the Republican, and 14% a favorable one and 42% unsure.

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are about evenly split on McCarthy’s removal (49% approve to 50% disapprove), and show little consensus on whether McCarthy’s removal was a good thing (30%) or a bad thing (34%) for their party.

Republicans’ overall mixed reactions to the House leadership conflict mirrors a divide in the party’s presidential nomination contest. A 56% majority of Republican-aligned voters who back former President Donald Trump say they approve of McCarthy’s ouster, compared with just 37% of those not supporting Trump in the primary.

Read more about the poll.

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks to the press after the motion to vacate his position passes in the US Capitol on October 3 in Washington, DC.

Washington and Congress have their own, often impenetrable, languages. So it may be somewhat confusing to assess what it means that the office of the speaker of the House of Representatives is vacant.

Here are key things to know about how Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted as House speaker:

What happened to McCarthy?

McCarthy had been House speaker since January, when he won the gavel after 15 rounds of balloting. He was ousted on October 3 after a small minority of his narrow majority – just eight Republicans – voted to remove him.

Why such a short tenure?

As part of a series of deals with hardliners to win the speaker’s gavel in the first place, McCarthy agreed that just one member would be required to call for a vote to “vacate” him from office at any time. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz became that member on October 3.

What was the eight Republicans’ beef with McCarthy?

Most of the eight came from the ultra conservative Freedom Caucus. They were angry that McCarthy cut a deal with Democrats to avert a partial government shutdown and fund the government temporarily for 45 days. They were also frustrated at the terms of a deal he cut with President Joe Biden to raise the nation’s debt limit earlier this year. This wing of the GOP is absolutist in its view of federal spending and some have even expressed willingness to entertain a default or shutdown to get what they want.

Many House Republicans who share some of these ideological views, however, continued to support McCarthy. Some of the people who voted to oust him, led by Gaetz, also had more personal conflicts with McCarthy, accusing him of not keeping his word.

Why didn’t any Democrats help McCarthy?

Some did consider rescuing the California Republican. But the party also has a collective political interest in watching Republicans squirm. And McCarthy, while a genial guy, was also extremely partisan. While he cut deals to keep the government open and raise the debt ceiling, he also recently initiated an official impeachment inquiry against Biden. And he refused to put some bills that had widespread bipartisan support – such as a defense authorization bill – on the House floor without partisan additions.

So many Democrats felt like they didn’t owe him anything, even if a future GOP speaker could be more conservative than McCarthy.

It’s easy to marvel at how Republicans allowed this to happen and to criticize Democrats for choosing the more partisan route, but both things were a long time coming.

Has this ever happened before?

It’s unprecedented for a speaker to be kicked out of their position in the middle of a congressional session. The type of House chaos in which parties could not agree on a speaker was more common before the Civil War.

Who chooses the speaker?

A majority of members of Congress – 218 if everyone is present and voting – selects the speaker. But lawmakers traditionally separate by party when they choose their speaker. If all Democrats vote for the Democratic leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, that means Republicans must find 218 votes from their conference for whomever they put up.

Why is this so hard for Republicans?

Their majority, which they won in last year’s midterms, is extremely small. Only four Republicans can break with the pack in order for a GOP speaker to be seated. When McCarthy was booted from the speaker’s office, he lost just eight Republicans of his 221-member conference.

In this May 2023 photo, Rep. Jim McGovern speaks during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC.

Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern said the idea of Jim Jordan as speaker was “disgusting” and that “Halloween is coming early if Jordan is speaker.” 

“I was the last person on the floor January 6, and the idea that this guy is the Republican nominee to be speaker, a guy who aggressively agitated the activities that happened on January 6, I think is disgusting,” he said.

McGovern said he hoped that Democrats and Republicans could come together to elect someone different and McGovern said he’d be open to helping another Republican become speaker but he noted they would have to have some real conversations. 

“I would like to see Hakeem Jeffries as the speaker but I mean what I’d also like to see is a speaker who is the speaker of the entire house, who, you know, who actually gives a damn that there are different opinions here, and it is not going to be cheering on a government shutdown or trying to abruptly cut aid to Ukraine,” McGovern said. 

Rep. Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat, said he is well aware that Republicans have the majority and should get a GOP speaker, but he signaled he was open to finding a more consensus choice. 

“In the conversations that we’ve had we make it clear that we understand we’re in the minority. Republicans are in a position to name a speaker, but if they want to avoid a catastrophic selection of another sort of McCarthy clone without the jacket, we’re open to that,” Kildee. 

He also called Jordan McCarthy “without the charm” and later McCarthy “without the jacket.”

(Jordan notoriously goes without a suit jacket a lot.) 

Rep. Jim Jordan speaks with reporters following a closed door meeting with House Republicans as he looks for decisive support to become speaker, at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Monday.

GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, just hours ahead of the speaker floor vote, would not say how many rounds he would go today but insisted “we need to get a speaker as soon as possible.” 

Jordan said he “hopes” to be speaker by the end of the day and “we will find out here pretty soon” if he has the votes on the floor. 

Jordan was asked specifically about GOP Rep. Ken Buck’s concerns over his past statements on the 2020 election, Jordan doubled down insisting a vast majority of GOP members objected. 

“It was unconstitutional to change our election law and that’s what I objected to, as did the vast, vast majority of Republican members of Congress,” Jordan said. 

Jordan said he is not threatening to primary any members against his bid.

“Of course not,” he said when asked if he was threatening to primary any holdout members. 

“I am supporting the conference whether we win or lose but I think we are going to win,” he added.

Jordan did not answer when pressed on if he would acknowledge former President Donald Trump lost the election, as Buck has said it is important for a GOP speaker to do. Last night after meeting with Jordan, Buck said he is still a “no” on the floor.  

In this November 2022 photo, former President Donald Trump welcomes Rep. Jim Jordan to the stage at a campaign rally at Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio.

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning posted a message of support for Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan ahead of the expected floor vote to decide who will become the next speaker of the House later today.

“Jim Jordan will be a GREAT Speaker of the House. As everyone knows, I have long ago given him my Complete and Total Endorsement!” Trump posted on Truth Social. 

Trump previously endorsed Jordan’s bid for speaker of the House earlier this month in another post on Truth Social. 

Rep. Jim Jordan arrives for a House Republican Conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 13, 2023.

House Republicans selected Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan as their new speaker nominee on Friday — but more than 50 Republicans voted against supporting him on the House floor.

Jordan sent the conference home for the weekend following Friday’s party votes, and lawmakers said he planned to use the time to speak with his opponents and try to win them over.

Jordan is facing resistance to be elected speaker on the floor thanks to the same math problem that doomed the bid of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who initially won the GOP speaker nomination but dropped out of the race abruptly Thursday evening after facing a hardened bloc of opposition.

By failing to coalesce behind a candidate, the GOP conference has plunged the House into uncharted territory and effectively frozen the chamber at a time when major international and domestic crises loom, from Israel’s war against Hamas to a potential government shutdown in mid-November.

Jordan or any other Republican speaker candidate can only afford to lose four GOP votes when the House votes for speaker, if all members are voting, because winning a speaker vote requires a majority of the full House.

Jordan’s backers expressed confidence he still could get there, but the Ohio Republican faces a major uphill climb.

The House GOP conference selected Jordan on Friday as its latest speaker-designee in a 124-81 vote over GOP Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia — who made a surprise last-minute bid. Jordan gained only 25 supporters compared to Wednesday’s vote when Scalise defeated Jordan, 113-99.

Jordan then called a second vote asking members if they would support him on the floor, in an effort to see if that could shrink his opposition. That vote, which was cast by secret ballot, was 152-55 – laying bare the long road ahead for Jordan’s speakership bid to succeed.

Jordan has made a name for himself as a staunch ally of Donald Trump and was endorsed by the former president in his bid for the speakership. The Ohio Republican serves as chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee.