With Jordan poised to fail, more talk of increasing McHenry's temporary speaker powers
As support for empowering McHenry continues to grow, with former Republican Speakers John Boehner, Paul Ryan, and Newt Gingrich on board, Jordan is trying to knock it down by claiming it would in effect be “coalition government, where Democrats are involved in selecting the speaker.”
Rep. Jim Jordan has a chance for a second vote to be elected speaker of the House, but his chances don’t look good. On Tuesday’s vote, he got just 200 of the 217 votes he needed, and a planned second vote didn’t happen. Reporting suggests that opposition has grown. Given all that, and with no obvious Republican alternative, the possibility of increasing Rep. Patrick McHenry’s powers as speaker pro tempore is gaining steam.
Punchbowl News reports that Jordan could lose another 10 votes during today’s expected vote. CNN’s Manu Raju puts the number at more like five—i.e., 25 Republican no votes in total—but that’s still a far cry from claims before the first vote that Jordan would gain strength on a second vote. But while Jordan is a particularly divisive figure, no Republican seems to be able to unite their party on a speaker vote, leading to the big question: What comes next?