House Republicans voted Friday afternoon to elect Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan as chairman-designate, as the lower chamber of Congress reached the 10-day mark without finding a replacement for ousted Kevin McCarthy. .
In closed-door voting, Jordan (R-Ohio) edged out Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), who had only announced his candidacy four hours earlier, 124-81.
Jordan also prevailed in a second vote to determine who would support him in the House, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) told The Post, with a slightly higher tally of 152 to 55 for Judiciary chairman.
No House speaker votes are expected until Monday night at the earliest.
Scott called for unity when speaking to reporters after their loss to Jordan, saying he would rally support for an eventual floor vote.
Now, the founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus has the unenviable task of rallying a conference torn by bad feelings and backbiting since McCarthy became the first president to be impeached by his colleagues on Oct. 3.
But Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) assured the Post that the speaker candidate would have the votes.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise speaks to reporters as he announces he will end his campaign to be the next speaker of the House.AP
“That’s part of the reason representatives go home. Jim has people to talk to, he knows who he needs to talk to and he’s going to figure it out,” Mast said.
He added that there would be no further deliberations at the conference and that all issues would have to be resolved in public.
“It’s always possible that someone will mention another name – Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump, or whatever they say – but I don’t anticipate another candidate forum or speaker race being held behind closed doors,” Mast said.
“Dad was an old Marine from World War II and he talked about sometimes getting out of that landing craft,” reflected Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.). “The guy in front would get it, the second guy might get hurt, and usually the third guy would end up on the beach.”
Other members expressed concern about the vote count.
Former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy makes remarks after U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced he was dropping out of the House speaker race. Annabelle Gordon – CNP/MEGA
“I thought it would be higher,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) told reporters, noting Jordan’s failure to rally more conference members.
“Personally, I think we should stay and finish this, but it’s up to him.”
Asked if Acting Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) would need to intervene to resolve the issues in the meantime, Donalds added: “We’re not going to form any kind of coalition government around here. We are not the European Parliament. “We are the United States.”
Friday’s all-conference meeting, the third in 24 hours, was called after Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) withdrew as designated speaker Thursday night, telling reporters he was It was obvious that he did not have the support among his colleagues to achieve the goal. mallet.
Jordan, whom Scalise defeated 113-99 in Wednesday’s initial vote, had promised to back the Louisianan in the House of Representatives.
Rep. Jim Jordan is seen at a House Republican Conference speaker election meeting after being elected the party’s candidate for House Speaker at the Longworth Building. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Current and former House GOP leaders were united but did not take questions from the press after the vote, with conference chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) being the first to publicly congratulate the Ohio Republican for his nomination.
McCarthy appeared upbeat before heading to the vote, telling reporters he would support Jordan but that the Judiciary chairman should “be prepared for the process to be president,” hinting at a repeat of his own 15-round fight in the House of Representatives in January to win votes.
He also attacked Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who led the effort to unseat him last week, again, saying, “I don’t think it’s right that all Democrats voted to create chaos and 4% of Republicans voted to create chaos.” he joined them.”
At one point during the deliberations, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) proposed reappointing McCarthy, which received “overwhelming support” from conference members before the former president asked them to recuse themselves. get his name on the ballot, one House Republican said. one attendee told The Post.
The order did not prevent McCarthy loyalists, such as Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.), publishing in X after the meeting that “he was still fine.” Just Kevin; “He should never have been fired to begin with.”
Rep. Jim Jordan speaks to reporters as House Republicans meet again behind closed doors to find a path to elect a new speaker after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise left the House. career.
“As a firefighter, I can tell you that there was no white smoke today,” Giménez said. “Our Congress still does not have a Speaker of the House because 8 Republicans joined all Democrats to plunge our nation into chaos.”
Several members also began to express concern that the longer the fight for the presidency dragged on, the more opportunities it would give House Democrats to capitalize on the disarray of the Republican caucus.
“These guys want to be in the minority,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who serves in a vulnerable Republican district, told CNN of his fellow lawmakers. “I think they would prefer that because they could just vote ‘no’ and yell and scream the whole time. But to govern we have to work together.”
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) endorsed Scalise for the presidential nomination and told reporters that Jordan would not have his vote in the House of Representatives.
“We’re going to have to find someone who can really unify us, really guide us,” Diaz-Balart said.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks to reporters amid another Republican caucus at Longworth House.ZUMAPRESS.com
“Today I voted to support Jim Jordan for president. He is a great American with strong conservative values, but I am not sure if he really is the independent thinker and visionary leader we need for the American people,” Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) said Friday night. statement.
Stay up to date with today’s most important news
Stay up to date on the latest with Evening Update.
“After witnessing all the behind-the-scenes politics, the betrayals, the undermining, the top-down attitude and statements made by former President McCarthy and his allies at today’s conference, I will have to evaluate on Monday whether Jim is the right person to be held accountable to the same standard as Kevin, or just another swamp puppet with a better biography. “I am also very disappointed that they sent us home without reconciling this issue.”
The House cannot take up other business until a speaker is elected, making a floor vote an urgent matter following the outbreak of war in the Middle East and the prospect of a partial government shutdown on Nov. 17. .
Throughout Friday, rumors circulated on Capitol Hill that a handful of House Republicans might reach some kind of deal with Democrats to elect a president acceptable to both parties.
But Brooklyn and Staten Island Rep. Nicole Malliotakis scoffed at that idea, calling it “ridiculous.”
“The time to be bipartisan was last week,” he told reporters.
“This should never have happened… If Democrats cared about this institution, they would never have sided with the right to remove our president and stop Congress. So they are as complicit as those eight Republicans who decided to overthrow the will of 97% of the conference.
“So if they wanted to be bipartisan, that time has passed.”
A lone Democrat who paused to speak to reporters criticized the idea, saying bipartisan votes in the House were in sight no matter what.
“Ultimately, that’s where we’ll be after spinning our wheels for two, three, four weeks,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.).
“It’s not our fault that Republicans can’t even come to terms with themselves and ultimately they are going to work with us on a bipartisan solution,” he added, pointing to negotiations over the debt ceiling earlier this year. . “You can write that script now, just fill in a few issues later.”
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn