Washington — Report.
Jim Jordan failed Wednesday on the second ballot to secure enough votes to become House speaker, leaving the lower chamber without a leader as Republicans' path forward remained unclear.
All total, 22 Republicans voted against Jordan, as four more Republicans voted against him and he picked up two Republicans, Reps. Doug LaMalfa of California and Victoria Spartz of Virginia.
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Some Republicans — including two former GOP House speakers — on Wednesday indicated they want the lower chamber to increase the power of Rep. Patrick McHenry, the speaker pro tempore. One key Republican source texted CBS News after the vote that "all roads lead to McHenry."
But any effort to empower McHenry would likely require support from House Democrats, with some saying they favor a vote to expand his authority to allow for consideration of a limited legislative agenda.
House Democrats on Wednesday uniformly voted for their leader, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
McHenry calls House into recess, with next steps unclear
After Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry declared "a speaker has not been elected," he called the House into recess for an indefinite period.
House Republicans are expected to huddle to hash out what they'll do next. It's unclear whether they will take more votes this afternoon, or begin searching for an alternative way to handle the speaker situation.
The other Republicans who received votes for speaker
A total of 22 Republican lawmakers cast their votes for someone other than Jordan.
Of those currently in the House, Scalise received seven votes, McCarthy received five votes, and Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida, Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Mike Garcia of California, Kay Granger of Texas and Bruce Westerman of Arkansas all had one vote apiece in their name.
Three former House members also earned votes: Zeldin, a former New York congressman, received three votes, while former Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and former Rep. Candice Miller of Michigan each received one vote.
All roads lead to McHenry, says one key GOP source
Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry is likely to see a push for his powers to be expanded if no consensus is found. But details continue to be debated among lawmakers.
"All roads lead to McHenry," one key House GOP source texts CBS News from the House floor, as Republicans scramble this hour following Jordan's inability to win the gavel on a second ballot.
Here are the Republicans who voted against Jim Jordan on the second ballot
Twenty-two Republicans voted against Jordan on Tuesday, with Jordan losing the support of four Republicans but gaining the support of two more.
Reps. Vern Buchanan, Drew Ferguson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Pete Stauber all voted for Jordan on the first ballot but switched on the second to supporting someone else. Reps. Doug LaMalfa of California and Victoria Spartz of Virginia both flipped from other candidates to Jordan.
Two Republicans switch to support Jordan
Two Republicans who backed other candidates on the first ballot switched their positions and cast their votes for Jordan on the second round.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California voted for McCarthy in the first round, and Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana cast her vote for Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
Their changes, though, did not help get Jordan closer to 217 votes, since he lost four more Republicans since Tuesday.
Jordan lacks the votes to become speaker in second round of voting
Jordan has already lost more than a dozen Republicans, adding new additions to the initial list of defectors. He can only afford to lose four Republicans.
Republican defectors are becoming more free with their nominations, with Rep. Mike Kelly offering a vote for former Speaker of the House John Boehner, who led the chamber from 2011-2015.
At least one Republican on Wednesday switched votes from McCarthy to Jordan — Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California. California is McCarthy's home state.
McCarthy blames Gaetz for fundraising off his ouster — and continued stalemate
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spoke to reporters en route to the chamber ahead of Wednesday's first vote. He blamed Rep. Matt Gaetz for fundraising off his ouster — as well as for the continued speaker stalemate. McCarthy reaffirmed his support for Jordan, and said he should be allowed to work through this.
Asked by CBS if Jordan should go 15 rounds like he did, he said he hopes Jordan wins now in the current round.
Jordan sees first new GOP defections in second round of voting
As the second round of voting began Wednesday afternoon, Jordan began to see more Republican defections.
Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida became the first initial Jordan voter to switch loyalties, casting his vote for fellow Floridian, Rep. Byron Donalds.
Rep. Drew Ferguson of Georgia, who initially voted for Jordan, followed, casting his vote for Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
Those who opposed Jordan in the first round are, so far, continuing to oppose him in the second round.
— Kathryn Watson and Melissa Quinn
Aguilar nominates Democratic leader Jeffries for speaker
Rep. Pete Aguilar, chairman of the Democratic caucus, rose to nominate New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader, for speaker. Aguilar, of California, delivered the nominating speech for Jeffries before the first vote Tuesday.
Aguilar said in his speech that Jeffries has "extended the hand" of bipartisanship and accused Jordan of spending the night striking "late-night, backroom deals" to win the gavel.
Noting that Jeffries received 212 votes to Jordan's 200 on the first ballot, Aguilar said "the People's House has spoken, and Leader Jeffries has the support to be speaker that this country needs."
"No amount of election denying is going to take away from those vote totals," he said. "We shouldn't be surprised at the vote count. I noted yesterday the legislative acumen of the gentleman from Ohio."
Aguilar said that none of Jordan's bills have been considered by a House committee and accused Jordan of supporting an "extreme agenda." Jordan, he continued, is "hell-bent" on banning abortion nationwide and has "given cover" to those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
"Those aren't the values that we share," Aguilar said, adding that "the country can't afford more delays and more chaos. Fifteen days should be enough."
Tom Cole nominates Jordan for speaker
Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma stood to nominate Jordan for speaker, to the applause of other Republicans in the chamber.
"Two weeks and one day ago, I was on this house floor and in this chamber defending my very good friend and our former speaker, Mr. McCarthy, from an effort to vacate the chair," Cole said, adding that the two weeks since have been nothing but chaos.
"We have a chance today to end that chaos and to end that uncertainty," Cole said, adding that he's "proud" to nominate Jordan.
"My friend is not exactly a shrinking violet," Cole said of Jordan. Cole called Jordan an "honorable" man of absolute integrity, and a direct man.
"It takes a spine of steel to do this job," Cole said, adding that Jordan has that quality in "great abundance."
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/house-speaker-vote-live-updates-10-18-2023/
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/18/house-speaker-vote/