Republicans tried, but failed, to elect a new speaker Tuesday, leaving the House on the verge of a third week in limbo while frustrated lawmakers plot to cut a bipartisan deal or vote to authorize a temporary speaker to conduct legislative business.
Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, came up 17 votes short in a House floor vote Tuesday afternoon and wasn’t able to flip a sufficient number of holdouts by day’s end.
A second vote is tentatively planned for Wednesday morning and Mr. Jordan held out hope for a victory on subsequent ballot rounds, telling reporters in the Capitol he’s having “great conversations, great discussions” with Republicans.
But the conference is deeply divided over Mr. Jordan, a conservative firebrand and aggressive spending hawk endorsed by the party’s most polarizing leader in modern history, former President Donald Trump.
Mr. Jordan won 200 out of 220 GOP votes cast Tuesday, compared with 212 votes for the Democrats’ nominee, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
A group of Republican appropriators make up a large bloc of holdouts and they won’t budge until Mr. Jordan agrees to some demands, including restoring the original bipartisan spending caps in fiscal 2024 legislation that were later reduced in the House and have no chance of passing in the Democratic-led Senate.
Other lawmakers are refusing to back Mr. Jordan because they are angry over the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, California Republican. Mr. McCarthy was pushed out in a floor vote by eight hardline conservatives who aligned with Democrats. Others are angry that Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who was first nominated as the speaker to succeed Mr. McCarthy, was pushed aside for Mr. Jordan when Mr. Scalise failed to immediately lock down enough support.
Now Mr. Jordan is struggling for support and wants to try to win on additional rounds of ballots, even though he told Mr. Scalise in private that he should step aside if he could not win on the first ballot.
“What I hope we’ll hear is Jim Jordan will realize he doesn’t have the votes to get there, he’s not going to have the votes to get there and he will step back and do the right thing,” Rep. John Rutherford, Florida Republican, said. “Then we can go about finding a consensus candidate.”
Mr. Rutherford, an appropriator, refused to support Mr. Jordan Tuesday and cast his vote for Mr. Scalise.
Some House Republicans are threatening to strike an unprecedented deal with Democrats to elect a speaker.
Democrats control 212 votes and could combine with a handful of GOP lawmakers to provide the votes for a compromise speaker.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, told reporters at the Capitol that conversations for a “bipartisan” solution have accelerated. He did not say which Republican lawmakers are in on the talks or who they would nominate for the gavel.
“Our focus right now relates not just to any one individual, but to getting the institution reopened,” Mr. Jeffries said.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are interested in giving temporary powers to run the chamber to Rep. Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican and chairman of the Financial Services Committee who was appointed temporary speaker after Mr. McCarthy was removed.
“I have respect for Patrick McHenry. I think he is respected on our side of the aisle. There are a whole host of other Republicans who are respected on our side of the aisle. Jim Jordan is not one of them,” Mr. Jeffries said.
Under the rules of the House, only an elected speaker can conduct legislative business and Mr. McHenry’s power as an appointee is limited to a few actions, including opening and closing the House and conducting elections for speaker.
As the House enters a third week paralyzed by a leadership vacuum, more lawmakers are talking about electing him on a temporary basis.
“Do I think that we should at least in the meantime look for a way to move our agenda forward? I think that’s probably a very prudent, smart move,” said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, Florida Republican who voted against Mr. Jordan.
But Mr. Jordan’s allies want to keep the pressure on holdouts and are using the shuttered House as a coercion tactic.
“We’ve just got to work through this,” Rep. Byron Donalds, Florida Republican and Jordan supporter, said. “We have to do our job, as painful as it is.”
While trying to win over holdouts, Mr. Jordan may see his vote count erode by Wednesday. Some Republicans have pledged to drop their support for him after the first ballot.
Mr. Jordan had flipped some votes in his favor after Tuesday’s loss. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, California Republican, said he’d switch his vote for Mr. Jordan on a second ballot.
Mr. LaMalfa was among more than a half dozen Republicans who voted Tuesday for Mr. McCarthy out of loyalty to him and anger over his ouster at the hands of 4% of the GOP conference.
“The House needs to get back on track promptly and I do and will continue to support Jim Jordan on further balloting,” he said.
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