The chaos and infighting between House Republicans amid their failure to elect a new speaker looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.
Ohio Representative Jim Jordan has lost three votes to replace Kevin McCarthy as House speaker after failing to get enough support from his own party to get the votes needed on the House floor.
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After Friday’s third vote, the conference voted 112-86 to end Jordan’s bid for the position that is second in line to the presidency. In the first round, Jordan received 200 votes from his party, but lost support in Wednesday’s ballot and received 199 votes, followed by 194 on Friday.
In a press conference early Friday morning, Jordan urged the party to show unity to get him elected as speaker so the current deadlock can be broken and the House can resume its vital legislative work.
“We need to get to work for the American people. We need to do what we said we were going to do,” Jordan said. “We need to do what we told them we were going to do when they elected us and put us in office.”
Jordan had already met with several of the GOP defectors who said they will not support his bid.
“We’re still in the same spot. He doesn’t have the votes to be speaker,” Florida Representative Carlos A. Gimenez, who has twice voted for McCarthy to return to the role from which he was ousted, told reporters on Thursday.
Elsewhere, there are several other examples of the disarray that is plaguing the GOP and essentially leaving the entire U.S. government in limbo without a House speaker.
Anger Over Voting Threats
Several House Republicans have spoken out against alleged intimidation tactics from Jordan and his supporters to try to convince them to support his bid.
Following Wednesday’s vote, Iowa Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks said she had received “credible” death threats after she changed her vote from Jordan in the first ballot to Representative Kay Granger of Texas in the second.
Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska also hit out at the anonymous threatening calls and text messages sent to his wife after he did not vote for Jordan.
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“If they think a pressure campaign or bullying campaign is going to work for me, it’s not,” he said.
Bacon added on Thursday that the threats resulted in his wife sleeping with a loaded gun after receiving the threatening calls.
Representative Steve Womack of Arkansas said his office has been bombarded with calls trying to intimidate him to vote for Jordan.
“It is obvious what the strategy has been: Attack, attack, attack. Attack the members who don’t agree with you, attack them, beat them into submission,” he told CNN.
Feuding on Social Media
South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace, one of eight Republicans to support a motion to vacate McCarthy before he was removed as speaker, has also been feuding with GOP colleagues online.
On Thursday night, Mace posted on X, formerly Twitter, amid a crisis conference meeting that “we should not go home until we have a speaker.”
In response, North Caroline Representative Greg Murphy wrote: “How about apologizing for causing this mess?”
Mace then posted that Murphy had blocked her on the social media app so she could not reply to him.
“This is exactly what’s wrong with this place—too many men here with no balls,” Mace posted while sharing an image showing Murphy had blocked her on X.
Kevin McCarthy and Matt Gaetz Clash
During the closed-door GOP conference meeting Thursday, McCarthy is said to have shouted at Matt Gaetz, the Florida congressman who introduced the motion to vacate.
Gaetz reportedly stood up and walked toward the microphone while McCarthy was speaking. McCarthy is then alleged to have shouted at Gaetz to “sit your a** down.”
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Another source who was present at the meeting alleged that Illinois Representative Mike Bost “was ready to lunge across the room” during the disorder.
McCarthy told reporters that he didn’t yell at Gaetz.
“I was at the mic, I was speaking and Matt Gaetz tried to interrupt,” McCarthy said. “I told him to sit down, and he sat down. I think the entire conference screamed at him. Listen, the whole country, I think, would scream at Matt Gaetz right now. Remember, it was the crazy eight led by Matt Gaetz and every single Democrat that put us into this situation.”
Speaker Pro Tempore Threatens to Quit
One possible route out of the speaker crisis is to grant Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina expanded powers that would allow him to authorize and pass legislation until a permanent speaker is elected.
The move was met with bipartisan support, but many House Republicans said they are completely against the idea. McHenry’s speaker pro tempore role is more ceremonial, and is mainly in place to preside over the votes to elect a permanent speaker.
On Thursday, McHenry is alleged to have threatened to step down from the role if Republicans push him to try to move legislation on the House floor without a vote to expand his powers.
“If you guys try to do that, you’ll figure out who the next person on Kevin’s list is,” McHenry said, sources told NBC News, in reference to McCarthy’s secret list of GOP lawmakers who would serve as temporary speaker in the event of a vacancy.
Another possible scenario to break the deadlock is for at least five GOP lawmakers to switch sides and vote for Democratic House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.
Jefferies received 212 votes in each round as he has unanimous support from his own party.
It is unlikely that any GOP member would risk their political career by voting for a Democratic House speaker when the Republican Party has a thin majority in the lower chamber.
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