Jim Jordan Is GOP's New Pick for House Speaker

UPDATE Oct 13, 2023 3:36 PM CDT

After some late political drama, Republicans have chosen Rep. Jim Jordan as their new nominee to be House speaker. However, it remains very much up in the air whether Jordan, a staunch ally of Donald Trump, will be able to get enough votes in the full House to secure the gavel, reports the Hill. Jordan defeated late entrant Austin Scott of Georgia in the Friday afternoon GOP vote. Politico reports he won with 124 ballots, but he will need 217 to become speaker. All of this comes a day after Steve Scalise withdrew as "speaker designate," knowing he would not be able to reach the magic number of 217. No word yet on when Republicans might schedule a full House vote.

Oct 13, 2023 12:47 PM CDT

Ten days after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker from the House, the chamber's Republicans appear to still be a long way from choosing a replacement—and they've rejected a proposal to avoid a potentially messy vote on the House floor. Politico reports that GOP lawmakers voted against a plan to require 217 members of the conference to agree on a nominee before there is a vote on the full House floor. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise was nominated in a 113-99 vote on Wednesday, but he dropped out Thursday night after it became clear that he had no hope of getting 217 votes, the minimum needed to be elected speaker.

Rep. Jim Jordan was the only declared GOP candidate for speaker after Scalise's exit, but he was joined before the noon deadline Friday by Rep. Austin Scott. "I have filed to be Speaker of the House," the Georgia lawmaker said in a post on X. "We are in Washington to legislate, and I want to lead a House that functions in the best interest of the American people." Republicans are holding more closed-door meetings Friday but a floor vote appears unlikely, NBC News reports. Some lawmakers have already left town for the weekend, leaving only 209 of the 221 Republicans, meaning Democratic nominee Rep. Hakeem Jeffries could be elected if a floor vote happens.

story continues below

During a morning meeting, Rep. Tom McClintock filed a motion to reinstate McCarthy but it didn't get enough support, the AP reports. "I just told them, no, let's not do that," McCarthy said. "Let's walk through this and have an election." He said he is supporting Jordan for speaker—and he believes Rep. Patrick McHenry, the acting speaker, should have enough authority to address situations like the crisis in Israel, Politico reports. (More House Republicans stories.)