WASHINGTON – Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan’s bid to take over as Speaker of the House is over for now and he is throwing his support behind Steve Scalise of Louisiana, nominated by Republicans to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy.
Republicans must try to unite their deeply divided majority to elect the conservative in a floor vote after ousting McCarthy from the job. A floor vote of the whole House had been expected Wednesday but was abandoned by nightfall.
Scalise needs to peel off the more than 100 votes from Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chairman favored by hardliners and Scalise’s is chief rival.
What’s unclear is whether lawmakers who supported Jordan, the hard-liner backed by Donald Trump, will throw their support to Scalise in what is sure to be a close vote of the full House. Democrats are set to oppose the Republican nominee, easily nominating their leader, New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.
Jordan said little after the 113-99 internal party ballot, only that the GOP majority “is divided.”
But Jordan did offer to give Scalise a nominating speech on the floor, in what would be a show of support during a vote. And Jordan himself plans to vote for Scalise, and is encouraging his colleagues to do the same, said a person familiar with the private talks and granted anonymity to discuss them.
Usually, the majority needed would be 218 votes, but there are currently two vacant seats, dropping the threshold to 217.
In 2018, Jordan, Scalise and McCarthy were similarly vying for leadership, with McCarthy and Scalise extending the rivalry to this day. Scalise was in line for the job this time after McCarthy’s ouster, but faced a challenge from Jordan, a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, who was viewed as a more hard-edged option.
Jordan is known for his close alliance with Trump, particularly when the then-president was working to overturn the results of the 2020 election, leading to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Trump backed Jordan’s bid for the gavel.
Jordan represents Ohio’s 4th Congressional Distrist, which includes Lima, Delaware and Mansfield.