House GOP picks Jim Jordan for speaker, maybe. Or maybe not

Trump loyalist easily beats Rep. Austin Scott in GOP vote — but appears at least 50 votes short in full House

Published October 13, 2023 6:26PM (EDT)

House Republican leaders, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on April 27, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio won an internal vote for House speaker among House Republicans on Friday, although he remains a long way from actually taking the speaker’s gavel. This comes only days after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., won an earlier vote only to withdraw earlier this week. According to CNN, Jordan, who currently chairs the House Judiciary Committee, won the nomination by a 124-81 vote over Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, who announced his candidacy at the 11th hour Friday in an apparent effort to block the Ohio congressman. That suggests that 16 of the 221 Republicans in Congress were absent or did not vote.

CNN also reported that Jordan called a subsequent vote by secret ballot asking members whether they would support him on the House floor. That vote was 152-55, making clear that he remains well short of the 217 votes he needs to become speaker. Jordan then sent GOP members home for the weekend, hoping to “use the time to speak with his opponents and try to win them over.”

“I think we can unite the conference,” Jordan said Friday morning before the vote. “I’ve been saying this for a week, I think I’m one individual who can bring our team together and then help our team go tell the country what we’re doing and why it matters to them.” Reps. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma and Nicole Malliotakis of New York, nominated Jordan during a Friday candidate forum, a source told The Hill.

With two of the 435 seats in the House currently vacant (one from each major party), 217 is a bare majority, meaning that Jordan can afford to lose no more than four Republican votes. Some GOP members apparently remain staunchly opposed to his candidacy. Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, for instance, told reporters Friday that there was nothing Jordan could do to win his support.

Whenever a floor vote for speaker finally comes, all 212 Democratic members are expected to vote for their nominee, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Republicans who are reluctant to support Jordan may feel pressure from former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Jordan’s bid last week. If Jordan, a staunch Trump loyalist and the founding chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, eventually becomes speaker, it would represent a major victory for the ex-president in the GOP’s internal conflict, which has only intensified since former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the role on Oct. 3.

Tatyana Tandanpolie is a news fellow at Salon. Born and raised in central Ohio, she moved to New York City in 2018 to pursue degrees in Journalism and Africana Studies at New York University. She is currently based in her home state and has previously written for local Columbus publications, including Columbus Monthly, CityScene Magazine and The Columbus Dispatch.