The answer to whether Rep. Jim Jordan would force a third and equally humiliating vote on his potential House Speakership is, apparently, no. Jordan has had enough fun this week losing two straight House votes in his bid for the Speaker’s gavel.
The Washington Post reports that with Jordan stepping aside, a proposal will be debated concerning the expansion of the speaker pro tempore’s power:
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will not seek an additional speaker vote Thursday, and he will back a plan to give Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.), the temporary speaker, additional powers, according to multiple people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the situation. After two rounds of votes, a group of Republicans had made clear that Jordan did not have enough support to win the speaker’s gavel. With House functions at a standstill, lawmakers can now consider a proposal to expand McHenry’s powers.
In the temporary role, McHenry basically has the authority to run the House of Representatives up to a point. The primary job is to act when the Speaker is not present or to preside over the election of a new Speaker.
The natives are getting restless and McHenry as an empowered placeholder seems to be the growing consensus, CNBC reports:
One GOP lawmaker, Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, has already put forward a resolution to elect McHenry as speaker pro tempore, expanding his currently limited powers.
Doing so “would allow the House to move critical legislation, including appropriations bills, to the floor for full consideration” by the fast-approaching government funding deadline, Kelly said in a statement Tuesday.
Another House Republican, Ohio’s Dave Joyce, told NBC News earlier Wednesday that he would introduce his own resolution to elect McHenry.
“After two weeks without a Speaker of the House and no clear candidate with 217 votes in the Republican conference, it is time to look at other viable options,” Joyce told NBC in a statement.
“By empowering Patrick McHenry as Speaker Pro Tempore we can take care of our ally Israel until a new Speaker is elected,” Joyce said.
It’s basically the spending bills for Israel and, to a lesser extent, Ukraine that lawmakers are worried over. With the chaos erupting in the Middle East, Congress has been stalled on doing much since Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy just three days into October.
For the time being, it looks like the bowtie is next in line to run the House until Republicans can get their crap together.
Democrats seem open to the idea of McHenry presiding over the House’s business and it’s not really a big secret as to why:
The Democrats aren’t afraid to have Patrick McHenry as Speaker.
He has a 46% Liberty Score, which is closer to most Democrats than most Republicans.
McHenry is a huge Ukraine guy and will rubber stamp money going to them with no problem:
He voted in favor of The Ukraine… pic.twitter.com/3PeZOnEvPH
— Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) October 19, 2023
Matt Gaetz is looking like he’s playing checkers rather than three-dimensional chess.
Update
Jordan says he’s still in the empowering McHenry ain’t gonna cut it, per NBC News:
An effort backed by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to empower interim speaker Patrick McHenry of North Carolina collapsed Thursday after it became clear it wouldn’t get enough support from House Republicans.
But leaving a lengthy closed-door meeting with GOP members on Thursday, Jordan said that empowering McHenry was not a viable option. He said it was a way to “lower the temperature and get back to work” but “we decided that wasn’t where we’re gonna go.”
Jordan reiterated that he was not planning to drop out of the race.
“I’m still running for speaker and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race,” Jordan said. He reporters that he planned to try for a third round of votes later Thursday.
Maybe the third time’s the charm? Doubtful, at this point, but the House will be voting again soon according to reports.
