Jordan to Back Empowering Temporary Speaker, Canceling 3rd Vote

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) (R) talks to Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) as the House of Representatives prepares to hold a vote on a new Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Oct. 18, 2023. Win McNamee/Getty Images

House Republicans are debating whether to introduce a motion to temporarily empower Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) to conduct House business until January.

The move is backed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who chose to do so after his candidacy for the speakership lost ground in a second ballot cast on Oct. 18, lawmakers confirmed. A third ballot that had been scheduled for Oct. 19 was canceled.

If approved, such a measure would pause the chaos surrounding the speakership race and allow the House to act on urgent matters, including determining support for Israel and completing 2024 appropriations before the Nov. 17 deadline.

Deadlocked After 2 Ballots

Mr. Jordan failed to gain the speakership on a first ballot on Oct. 17 as 20 Republicans voted against his candidacy. On a second ballot cast on Oct. 18, two members swung their support to Mr. Jordan, and one who had been absent the day before supported him.

However, four others deserted, resulting in a net loss of one vote. Mr. Jordan remained 17 votes shy of a majority at the end of the day.

Meanwhile, Reps. David Joyce (R-Ohio) and Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) had both circulated legislative mechanisms that would elect Mr. McHenry as speaker pro tempore for a limited time or until a permanent speaker is elected.

Mr. McHenry was designated as speaker pro tempore by a House rule intended to avoid vacancies in the office during times of emergency. That rule limits his authority to a single function: overseeing the election of a speaker.

As an elected speaker pro tempore, Mr. McHenry would be able to conduct House business on an interim basis.

Jordan’s Choice

After the second failed vote, Mr. Jordan’s allies said they would continue to support his candidacy regardless of the number of ballots it might take to win. Mr. Jordan told reporters only that he hoped to see the election of a Republican speaker and that he was uncertain whether or when a third ballot would be cast.

Heading into the Oct. 19 conference, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) told reporters: “This is his decision to make. After that, we have multiple decisions.” Mr. Van Drew said he would support the idea of temporarily empowering Mr. McHenry if Mr. Jordan were in favor of it.

Others were open to the idea but wanted to see the details of the plan. “I think it’s important to get our agenda back on track,” Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) told reporters, adding that he had not reviewed the specifics of the proposal. “It’s pretty clear that we have an impasse right now with the speaker race. So I think we need to find a temporary way to move our agenda.”

Others, including many Jordan supporters, said they saw the move as questionable, even potentially unconstitutional, and preferred to continue voting until a speaker is elected.

“Our constituents worked too hard to give us the majority for us to enter some sort of temporary speakership. Our conference has a responsibility to the American people, to our districts, to work together and unify,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said.

“We’ve got to decide who we want to be speaker. He is the designee now ... It’s his time in the arena,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said, adding that he would oppose elevating the speaker pro tempore regardless of Mr. Jordan’s wishes. “It’s time to pick a speaker.”

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said he would favor a compromise that allowed the House to open, but only if Mr. Jordan’s candidacy were first brought to a close. Democrats are uniform in their opposition to Mr. Jordan, whom they see as a “right-wing extremist.”

Entrenched Opposition

The notion to empower Mr. McHenry gained momentum after opposition to Mr. Jordan’s candidacy appeared to harden after two ballots.

Emotions have run high among House Republicans after the events of the preceding two weeks. First was the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who was unseated by eight GOP lawmakers aided by 208 Democrats. Then, the nomination of Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) was foiled by a different small group of holdouts who announced their opposition to his candidacy.

After Mr. Jordan was nominated for the speakership on Oct. 13, several members complained of a pressure campaign undertaken by his supporters to sway the votes of fellow Republicans.

Flooding inboxes to influence members’ votes is standard practice in Washington politics. But some have said this campaign crossed the line into threats and intimidation.

Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) said members had received thousands of “hate calls.” Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) said she had received credible death threats. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) posted an email he’d received containing a threat of violence.

Members have said Mr. Jordan himself hasn’t used threats or intimidation. He denounced the practice in a social media post on the evening of Oct. 18, calling it abhorrent.

Even so, the campaign appears to have backfired as resistance to Mr. Jordan’s candidacy has deepened.

“One thing I cannot stomach or support is a bully,” Ms. Miller-Meeks wrote.

“I’ve talked to a couple of members where they felt that—that’s just not what they needed,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) told Fox News on Oct. 17 about the so-called pressure campaign. “I don’t think that’s what we should be doing right now.”

Jackson Richman, Joseph Lord, Emel Akan, Ryusuke Abe, and NTD’s Melina Wisecup contributed to this report.