Jim Jordan Nominated for House Speaker, But House of Republicans Still Divided
House Republicans have a new nominee for the House speakership, and it's the controversial Jim Jordan. However, the party is still in chaos as some Republicans still refuse to support him.
The majority of Republicans voted for the Ohio congressman but over 50 still refused, leaving House Republicans in disarray as it reaches Day 10 of the House still not having a speaker.
To add to the chaos, some Republicans, including former Speaker McCarthy, continue to blame Democrats for the troubles caused by their own infighting, while some are pinning all the blame on Matt Gaetz and the other Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy.
The vote ended with Jordan sending the conference home for the weekend on Friday as Republicans could not seem to agree on who should be House speaker. Not even Donald Trump's endorsement could net the embattled Ohio Republican the gavel as he does not seem to have as many votes needed to secure it, even with the Republican majority. Meanwhile, Democrats have stood resolute and all voted for Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker.
As CNN noted, with no House speaker, the House is now in uncharted territory as it cannot function without one. This also comes at a time with international crises such as Ukraine and Israel, as well as domestic crises continuing to hamper the country, and the Republican infighting has certainly not helped one bit.
Moderate Republicans Opposing Jim Jordan's Bid to Be House Speaker
Those opposing Jim Jordan are the more moderate Republicans. Jordan is known to be a conservative hardliner and libertarian who co-founded the far-right House Freedom Caucus. He is also adamantly allied with Donald Trump, as well as being caught up in a sexual abuse scandal while he was still an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University.
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According to CBS News, these moderate Republicans have stated that they would oppose his candidacy and this has left his bid in doubt as Jordan could only allow four dissenters from his own party to get the needed votes to be the next House Speaker.
During Friday's vote, 124 of his Republican colleagues voted for him, surpassing the 113 who voted for Steve Scalise previously. However, these votes are still not enough as he needs 217 to secure the gavel. Republicans are expected to remain divided while Democrats are expected to continue voting for Jeffries.
Democrat Leader Hakeen Jeffries Urges Moderate Republicans to Join Democrats
As the Republican infighting intensifies, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has a solution, and that is to join the Democrats in voting for a new House Speaker.
According to PBS News, House Republicans only have a slim majority, with a lead of 221-212, with 217 votes needed to become Speaker of the House. Republicans continue bickering as Jeffries continues to lead the vote as all 212 Democrats keep voting for him while the Republicans cannot seem to get their act together.
In an interview with PBS News, Jeffries revealed that the Republican infighting is holding up aid to Israel in its fight against Hamas.
"And that's why it's so urgently necessary that the Republicans get their act together and elect the speaker from within their own ranks, as it is the responsibility of the majority party to do, or have traditional Republicans break with the extremists within the House Republican Conference and partner with Democrats on a bipartisan path forward," Jeffries said.
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This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
WATCH: House Republicans chose Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan as their nominee for House Speaker. - CBS Chicago
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