by Nicholas Ballasy
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan lost the third ballot in the House speaker on Friday with more Republicans voting against him than the previous two rounds.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican who was removed from the position more than 2 weeks ago, nominated Jordan on the floor ahead of the vote. Total votes cast were 429.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., had introduced the motion to vacate the chair that led to McCarthy’s removal.
Jordan, of Ohio, received 194 votes but 25 Republicans voted for someone else, according to the official tally. He lost the support of 22 Republicans on the second ballot and 20 on the first.
“Our plan this weekend is to get a speaker elected to the House Representatives as soon as possible,so we can help the American people,” Jordan said at a press conference Friday morning.
The House is in recess. House Republicans are reportedly scheduled to head into a closed-door conference meeting to discuss the path forward.
– – –
Nicholas Ballasy has been breaking news for more than a decade in the nation’s capital and questioning political leaders about the most pressing issues facing the nation.
Photo “Jim Jordan” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
