Jordan Makes Strides, Still Denied Gavel

On Tuesday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) lost his first bid to become Speaker of the House.

Jordan secured 200 votes, far less than estimates we have seen from Republicans, including former Speaker McCarthy (R-CA).

The failure of this vote, in my opinion, falls on leadership, including several of the Republicans who received votes during this election.

Get Them in Line

I have stated many times that I supported the removal of McCarthy as Speaker, and I still do, but I would have expected a plan to be in place to have a replacement ready to go.

That, sadly, was not the case. And now, due to current events, Republicans are being blamed for Congress being frozen while every member of the press gives Democrats a free pass for having voted in favor of the Gaetz motion.

But the real problem here is failed Republican leadership, of which I still gave far too much credit for learning from their mistakes.

Both McCarthy and Rep. Scalise (R-LA), both of whom voted for Jordan, received multiple votes for Speaker.

Now, if Scalise, as Majority Leader, WHIP Tom Emmer (R-MN), who also received a vote, and McCarthy did their jobs, they would have known who was voting against Jordan and they would have worked this all out before another failed vote.

I saw reports this morning that had Jordan around 210, then hoping the rest of the caucus would fall in line, and they did this knowing members of the GOP likely to support Jordan were not even in chambers today.

This was Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy after the failed vote…

That answer by McCarthy was a complete and utter joke when he called it a “negative” question.

He was the one touting that Jordan had the path to the gavel, but he failed to own it. He was right in accusing Democrats, but his attitude and demeanor are exactly why I wanted him out as Speaker.

He is just another tool in Congress who thinks he is something special because of his title.

Do your job, McCarthy, and get the caucus in line behind Jordan and get them to stop playing games.

I believe McCarthy had seven votes, and he knew they would all be voting for him… but he did nothing to change their mind.

Now we have another embarrassment in the midst of a war and an election, an embarrassment that looks more and more likely to cost Republicans the House in 2024.