As the House prepares to vote on a new speaker at the U.S. Capitol in October, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Speaker pro tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) ) in Washington, DC, on 18th 2023.
Win McNamee | Getty Images
The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote for a third time on Friday on Rep. Jim Jordan’s embattled bid to become the next speaker, an Ohio Republican Party spokesperson confirmed to CNBC.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on Jordan at 10 a.m. ET, the spokesperson said.
Ohio Republican lawmakers’ attempts to secure the gavel failed on two separate votes this week. Jordan is unlikely to win on a third ballot, given that he faces a wall of opposition from 20 Republicans.
The decision to hold a third vote came after Republican lawmakers abandoned a plan to give interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry oversight of the bill’s passage until January.
Jordan said he proposed the plan in a closed session, but the Republican conference did not want to move forward with it.
“We decided that was not the place for us to go,” Jordan told reporters. “I’m still running for speaker and I’m going to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race.”
Mr. Jordan had supported a plan to empower Mr. McHenry as a go-between, allowing the House to move forward on important legislation until the deeply divided Republican conference unites on a permanent replacement.
Congress faces a deadline of Nov. 17 to pass a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. President Joe Biden also urged lawmakers to pass emergency security aid to Israel as the Middle East descends into war.
The plan to empower Mr. McHenry was one potentially viable option to break the deadlock in the closely divided House, as Democrats had signaled support for the proposal.
But Jordan’s allies were furious at the plan to empower McHenry for that very reason.
“Expanding the powers of the speaker pro tempore sets a dangerous precedent, and is exactly what Democrats wanted it to be,” Republican Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana said in a post on X on Thursday. .
Several other Republicans said after the meeting that the resolution was no longer valid.
“Reading the room, this is dead,” Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan told reporters.
“It has been clear in our conference that this resolution will not be supported,” said Florida Rep. Byron Donald. “So I think we’re almost done.”
“I don’t think we’re going to move forward with that resolution,” said Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado.
McHenry said Thursday that he had not discussed giving him oversight of the bill with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York or other Democrats.
“I’m focused on electing Speaker candidate Jim Jordan to be Speaker of the House. That’s my goal, that’s my purpose,” the North Carolina Republican told reporters.
House Republicans have been unable to find a candidate with enough votes to become speaker more than two weeks after a faction of eight Republicans ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California.
The House of Representatives is paralyzed and cannot pass legislation until lawmakers elect a speaker.
Republicans hold a slim majority in the House, and without Democratic support, a Republican speaker candidate would lose just four votes from within his own party.
So far, not a single Republican has endorsed the party. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise was originally the Republican candidate to replace Mr. McCarthy, but the Louisiana congressman was forced to drop out of the race last week after it became clear he didn’t have the votes.
Jordan initially lost to Scalise in an intraparty vote for the nomination, but then threw his hat back into the ring.
Don’t miss the next article on CNBC PRO.
