OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Rep. Jim Jordan on Monday came one step closer to becoming the next House Speaker, though he still has a round a dozen or so votes to wrangle before reaching the magic number of 217.
Reports over the weekend said that Jordan was pushing for a Tuesday floor vote so that members’ choices would be a matter of public record after he came up about 55 votes short during a closed-door GOP caucus meeting on Friday when he won a majority of the votes.
But on Sunday, Rep. Mike Rogers, who had previously said he couldn’t back the Ohio Republican and current Judiciary Committee chairman under any circumstances, changed his mind after he said he and Jordan had spoken a couple of times and came to terms.
“@Jim_Jordan and I have had two cordial, thoughtful, and productive conversations over the past two days. We agreed on the need for Congress to pass a strong NDAA, appropriations to fund our government’s vital functions, and other important legislation like the Farm Bill,” Rogers began in a post to the X platform.
“As a result, I have decided to support Jim Jordan for Speaker of the House on the floor,” he continued. “Since I was first elected to the House, I have always been a team player and supported what the majority of the Republican Conference agrees to. Together, our Republican majority will be stronger to fight Joe Biden’s reckless agenda for America.”
Other Republicans chimed in their support as well.
.@Jim_Jordan and I have had two cordial, thoughtful, and productive conversations over the past two days. We agreed on the need for Congress to pass a strong NDAA, appropriations to fund our government's vital functions, and other important legislation like the Farm Bill. (1/3)
— Mike Rogers (@RepMikeRogersAL) October 16, 2023
🚨Just in: Ann Wagner who was previously opposed to Jim Jordan as Speaker will now officially vote for him on the House floor. pic.twitter.com/TAuY0EWpzW
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) October 16, 2023
Jim Jordan now has majority backing from the House Republican Conference to become Speaker.
Can he count on your vote, Congressman Rutherford? https://t.co/OozDXenQaN
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) October 16, 2023
Jim Jordan sends out a letter saying he will work to bring “all Republicans together.”
Interesting section: “We will make sure that there are more republican voices involved in our decisions beyond the Five Families.”
Anyone want to guess who the Five Families are. pic.twitter.com/jABNMZUaab
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) October 16, 2023
However, there are other efforts afoot to deny Jordan the speakership, Newsmax reported:
On Saturday, four centrist Democrats in the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus — Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Ed Case of Hawaii, Susie Lee of Nevada, and Jared Golden of Maine — wrote a letter to Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., saying they would back him as temporary speaker in 15-day increments.
Under their proposal, the House would be able to proceed on such measures as aid to Israel and funding the federal government after the continuing resolution runs out next month.
Such “coalition speakers” have been executed in several state legislatures over the past half-century, among them Connecticut, California, and New Jersey.
But most Republicans dismissed that idea, Newsmax added.
“Jim Jordan and I spoke at length again this morning, and he has allayed my concerns about keeping the government open with conservative funding, the need for strong border security, our need for consistent international support in times of war and unrest, as well as the need for stronger protections against the scourge of human trafficking and child exploitation,” Rep. Ann Wagner, a Missouri Republican, said in a statement, per CNN. “Jim Jordan is our conference nominee, and I will support his nomination for Speaker on the House floor.”
Jordan can only afford to lose four Republicans in order to win the job, but he said he feels confident to hold a vote on Tuesday.
“I think the only way to do this, the way the Founders intended, is you … have to vote tomorrow,” Jordan said. “We set it for 12 p.m. ET. I feel good about it.”
When he was asked about the vote going to a second ballot, Jordan responded, “We are going to elect a speaker tomorrow.”
