October 17, 2023 Jim Jordan fails to win House speakership on first ballot

Table Of Content

• McCarthy says there's no timeline for getting to 218 votes and defends concessions he has made
• Conservative opposition to Emmer emerges
• McCarthy enters GOP Conference meeting as he makes latest plea for speakership support
• Chaos on the House floor as McCarthy appears to fall short in 14th vote
• The House has voted to adjourn until Thursday

Toward the end of the 19th century, the office of speaker began to develop into a very powerful one. At the time, one of the most important sources of the speaker's power was his position as Chairman of the Committee on Rules, which, after the reorganization of the committee system in 1880, became one of the most powerful standing committees of the House. Furthermore, several speakers became leading figures in their political parties; examples include Democrats Samuel J. Randall, John Griffin Carlisle, and Charles F. Crisp, and Republicans James G. Blaine, Thomas Brackett Reed, and Joseph Gurney Cannon. "Given their unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican Motion to Vacate the Chair," Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York wrote to his caucus. Though McCarthy had the support of most House Republicans, there were enough opponents within his party to cost him the speakership. Jordan said the expected return of Florida Rep. Gus Bilirakis, a Jordan supporter who missed the first vote to be at his mother-in-law’s funeral, should help him and insisted they are chipping away at the holdouts.

McCarthy says there's no timeline for getting to 218 votes and defends concessions he has made

Nancy Pelosi, who has served as House speaker in the 116th Congress, is on track to remain in the role. After serving 17 years as the House Democratic leader, Pelosi is running unopposed. McCarthy has already offered a compromise, saying he would allow any five members to initiate a vote to remove the speaker.

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Conservative opposition to Emmer emerges

"We are going to finish this tonight," and will meet "for as long as it takes," Johnson said. Emmer and his allies have been trying to win over a couple dozen GOP holdouts. Reps. Byron Donalds, Mark Green, Mike Johnson and Roger Williams remain in the speaker race. The race now is a head-to-head contest between Donalds and Johnson as the GOP conference moves on to a third ballot, according to Stefanik. Our coverage of the latest developments in the House speaker race continues here.

McCarthy enters GOP Conference meeting as he makes latest plea for speakership support

Vote-leader Kevin McCarthy again ended up with 201 votes, and 20 Republicans again voted for another Republican member of the House. The eighth vote on the House floor to elect a new speaker didn’t do the trick. Hern has previously stated he backs House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for speaker.

It appeared likely that McCarthy would need more than one vote to secure the gavel, as several Republicans have said they would oppose him. In the meantime, Democrats nominated Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and boasted that they were “united” in their support for the minority candidate. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday failed to secure the necessary 218 votes to be the next House speaker, the first time in nearly a century that the majority’s nominee needed another vote. "I'm not going anywhere," McCarthy told reporters Tuesday morning following a contentious private meeting with the GOP Conference. After the House gaveled in, lawmakers were told they could expect a vote on a Republican motion to adjourn, which would have stalled the fourth vote on the election of the speaker. However, the GOP motion to adjourn was not immediately offered as the votes may not have been there and McCarthy allies balked.

Chaos on the House floor as McCarthy appears to fall short in 14th vote

Their votes lowered the threshold required for McCarthy to win by making it easier for him to get a majority of those voting for a candidate. The power of the speaker was greatly augmented during the tenure of the Republican Thomas Brackett Reed (1889–1891, 1895–1899). Reed, however, declared that members who were in the chamber but refused to vote would still count for the purposes of determining a quorum. Through these and other rulings, Reed ensured that the Democrats could not block the Republican agenda. Before the vote, the House Democratic leadership urged their caucus to vote "yes" on the motion to vacate.

The House has voted to adjourn until Thursday

Under pressure to step aside when there appeared to be no chance that he could clinch the speaker’s gavel, he hung on anyway. Mr. Gaetz said on Tuesday that lawmakers should not give the post to somebody willing to sell “shares of himself to get” it. WASHINGTON — For days as hard-right lawmakers voted again and again to block him from becoming speaker, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California sat on the House floor with a grin plastered to his face. Mr. Gosar, who voted against Mr. McCarthy on multiple ballots but changed his vote to support him on Friday, spread numerous lies about the 2020 election and spoke at “Stop the Steal” rallies arranged by Ali Alexander, a prominent organizer. Other hard-right holdouts who for days have refused to vote for Mr. McCarthy were Representatives Matt Gaetz of Florida, Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Andy Harris of Maryland.

But even if they accept it, it’s not enough to get to 218 votes, the source acknowledges. Other concessions will have to be made to other opponents who have raised different concerns. The House approved a $95 billion package of foreign aid bills that would provide funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, among other priorities. The bills moved forward despite a far-right threat to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) if he advanced Ukraine aid. “What we want to do is have assurances on paper about what the process is and how to deliver these conservative reforms that I think the conference will appreciate and endorse,” he said.

Matt Gaetz responds after Trump urges support for McCarthy: 'Sad!'

At a forum Monday night, speaker candidates pitched their ideas to the rank and file in the party. After the first round of voting, Sessions received the lowest number of votes and was eliminated. He quietly made deals with the most conservative members of the conference in order to win the speakership in January. Emmer told GOP colleagues he won't strike any secret deals to become speaker, Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson told reporters. Rep. Mike Johnson, who came in second to Emmer in the final ballot, told reporters he's trying to help Emmer flip the remaining holdouts. Emmer can only afford four defections in a vote on the House floor to still win the speakership.

After the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in June last year, he celebrated. In December 2020, Mr. Johnson collected signatures for a legal brief in support of a Texas lawsuit, rooted in baseless claims of widespread election irregularities, that tried to throw out the results in four battleground states won by Joseph R. Biden Jr. Johnson praises former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, unceremoniously deposed three weeks ago.

“This affirms the path that we took,” Representative Bob Good of Virginia, one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, tells reporters. Johnson said Republicans would "dispense with all of the usual ceremonies and celebrations” and get to work. “You’re going to see an aggressive schedule in the days and weeks ahead,” he said. Representative Ken Buck of Colorado said that Mr. Johnson was not involved in postelection efforts to invalidate the results, even though Mr. Johnson was a critical player in those activities. Mainstream conservatives who backed Mr. Johnson said they hoped to quickly move to pull the House out of its funk. Almost immediately after Mr. Johnson was elected, lawmakers began debating a resolution expressing solidarity with Israel and condemning Hamas, which passed overwhelmingly. Democrats were scathing in their assessment of Mr. Johnson’s ascent to the speakership.

McCarthy faces opposition from Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and members of the House Freedom Caucus ahead of Tuesday's vote. Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., gaveled out the 117th Congress Tuesday at noon. McCarthy captured 203 votes, fewer than the 212 won by Democrat Hakeem Jeffries of New York. The failure to reach 218 was widely expected, and McCarthy himself indicated that he expected a few rounds of voting.

"I would support a unity candidate if that's what it takes, because we need a Speaker of the House." Members-elect of the 118th Congress were expected to vote to adjourn the body after the sixth vote to allow GOP lawmakers to meet and try again to reach some agreement on a consensus candidate. Republicans put up Rep.-elect Byron Donalds of Florida as an alternative, but he has been stuck at 20 votes for the last three rounds. Republicans are still deciding who will be the House speaker for the 118th session of Congress, but as Rep-elect.

It's not at all clear whether McCarthy and his allies will be able to lock down the votes -- and the longer the fight drags on, the more imperiled his speakership bid has become. Despite continued talks, 20 Republicans have consistently not voted for him (up from 19 defections in the first two rounds) — and instead have nominated other candidates to take votes away from McCarthy. Despite making key concessions to get the top job, McCarthy on Thursday was again unable to persuade enough Republicans to elect him Speaker of the House — failing to get the required majority after 11 rounds of voting that have taken place over three days. McCarthy's bid for speaker -- he lost 11 votes in the House this week -- has been stymied by about 20 fellow Republicans.

Entering the sixth vote on Wednesday, Rep.-elect Kat Cammack of Florida accused Democrats of sitting by with "popcorn and blankets and alcohol," drawing boos from the left. No GOP lawmakers put up alternative candidates to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., or incoming House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in the 13th round of voting. A reporter pressed Santos on his false representations following reports he lied about several aspects of his resume before being elected, including misrepresenting his education, work experience and claiming Jewish descent. We don’t know if McCarthy will win on a potential 14th ballot right after the House returns at 10 pm et. We expect the House to elect Rep.-elect Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as House Speaker either late tonight or in the wee hours of Saturday morning. With Republicans having 222 members in the chamber, McCarthy could only afford four defectors.