Today is the twentieth day without a Speaker of the House. On Friday, the House of Representatives held yet another Speaker vote. It was their third Speaker vote that week, all in an attempt to install insurrectionist douchebag Jim Jordan as Speaker. Something weird happened though – with each vote, Jordan lost more and more Republican support, all while Democrats stayed in lockstep behind Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. After the third failed vote, House Republicans did a closed-door meeting where they basically took Jordan to the proverbial woodshed and told him and his janky combover that they would never become Speaker.

Hardline conservative Republican Jim Jordan’s quest to become speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives ended on Friday as his fellow Republicans revoked their support following a third, failed vote on the House floor.

That means that the House until at least next week will remain unable to respond to President Joe Biden’s request for a $106 billion national-security package including military aid for Ukraine and Israel or take action to stave off a looming Nov. 18 partial government shutdown.

Support for Jordan’s candidacy faded over the course of the week. He received 194 votes in a third round of balloting on Friday, down from the 200 votes he received on Tuesday and well short of the majority he needed to claim the speaker’s gavel.

Republicans then voted 112-86 to revoke Jordan’s nomination in a closed-door meeting.

“It was an honor to be their speaker designee,” Jordan told reporters after the meeting. “We need to come together to figure out who our speaker is going to be. I’m going to work as hard as I can to help that individual.”

[From Reuters]

This is good news for American democracy, because it would be very easy to spin out a theory that if “Speaker Jordan” was in charge of the House in January 2025, he would find a way to refuse to certify Joe Biden’s second term as president. That’s how dire the situation is/was.

So, what happens now? Nine candidates have joined the Speaker race, and Republicans will do an internal conference today in what I believe will be an attempt to cull some of the candidates. Then they’re hoping to hold a vote on Tuesday. The Hill has a helpful primer on the new Speaker candidates, with descriptions of how they voted with regards to certifying the 2020 election. Basically, no one really believes that the Republicans can find some consensus on the Speaker. I still halfway believe that Dems can peel off about ten “reasonable” Republicans and come to some kind of power-sharing agreement and perhaps we can really have a Speaker Jeffries.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

House Committee on the Judiciary Hearing entitled: Oversight of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with United States Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in Washington, D.C. Featuring: Chairman United States Representative Jim Jordan (Republican of Ohio) Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 26 Jul 2023 Credit: CNP/startraksphoto.com United States Representative Jim Jordan (Republican of Ohio) talks to press after United States House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (Republican of Louisiana) announces he is dropping out of the race for Speaker of the House following a House Republican caucus meeting in the Capitol. Kevin McCarthy (Republican of California) was recently ousted from the Speakership and there is currently no one else officially in the running, however, Jordan originally lost out to Scalise in the official GOP nomination vote. Featuring: United States Representative Jim Jordan (Republican of Ohio) Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 12 Oct 2023 Credit: CNP/startraksphoto.com House Speaker nominee United States Representative Jim Jordan (Republican of Ohio) offers remarks regarding his third attempt for the vote for Speaker of the House of Representatives, at the U.S. Capitol. The position of House Speaker has been has been vacant for more than two weeks since Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy (Republican of California) was ousted from the speakership on October 3, 2023, during a vote initiated by United States Representative Matt Gaetz (Republican of Florida), and led by a small group of far-right Republicans. Featuring: Jim Jordan Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 20 Oct 2023 Credit: Rod Lamkey/CNP/startraksphoto.com
House Speaker United States Representative Jim Jordan (Republican of Ohio) takes a moment to talk with reporters as he departs the House Republican Conference meeting after he failed to get enough votes for the speakership on the third attempt for the vote for Speaker of the House of Representatives, at the U.S. Capitol. The position of House Speaker has been has been vacant for more than two weeks since Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy (Republican of California) was ousted from the speakership on October 3, 2023, during a vote initiated by United States Representative Matt Gaetz (Republican of Florida), and led by a small group of far-right Republicans. Featuring: Jim Jordan Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 20 Oct 2023 Credit: Rod Lamkey/CNP/startraksphoto.com

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