Rudderless House Republicans Fail To Elect A Speaker, Again

October 18, 2023
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 17: U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) looks on as the House of Representatives meets to elect a new Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building on October 17, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Hous... WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 17: U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) looks on as the House of Representatives meets to elect a new Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building on October 17, 2023 in Washington, DC. The House has been without an elected leader since Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted from the speakership on October 4 in an move led by a small group of conservative members of his own party. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) MORE LESS
|
October 18, 2023

House Republicans voted for speaker again this afternoon, giving Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) another shot after he fell well short of the gavel Tuesday. While the congressman from Ohio managed to pull a couple detractors from Tuesday’s vote over to his side, a handful of members who supported him yesterday voted for someone else today, leaving him with fewer votes after the second round than he got during the first.

TPM’s Kate Riga and Emine Yücel are both reporting from Capitol Hill. Follow our live coverage below:

More Less

House Republicans voted for speaker again this afternoon, giving Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) another shot after he fell well short of the gavel Tuesday. While the congressman from Ohio managed to pull a couple detractors from Tuesday’s vote over to his side, a handful of members who supported him yesterday voted for someone else today, leaving him with fewer votes after the second round than he got during the first.

TPM’s Kate Riga and Emine Yücel are both reporting from Capitol Hill. Follow our live coverage below:

Notable Replies

  1. Here’s hoping he loses support from yesterday!

  2. Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) bows out as her Party flails: “Right now, Washington, D.C. is broken.
    Guess who broke it, Debbie?
    The Orange God-King and his cult.

  3. The dems should wholeheartedly oppose that nonsense about empowering McHenry, especially after that petty tantrum he threw in his first five minutes as Pro Tem of relieving Pelosi of her office.

    But mostly because there are rules to electing a speaker and the Cons shouldn’t be allowed to circumvent them. If they want Speaker MCHenry, they should have to fucking VOTE for him.

  4. On the one hand, I have a deep interest in the House not being paralyzed at this moment in history. On the other, it seems that if the Pro Tem’s powers are expanded, the GOP gets to have its cake and eat it, too. There are two valid answers to the current crisis:

    1. The GOP finds a candidate that can get 217.
    2. A handful of GOPers find a spine and vote for Jeffries.

    I have heard the Jeffries and Pelosi (and presumably the rest of the caucus) have been discussing what the Dems would require to vote for the Pro Tem rule change. I understand their willingness to at least entertain the possibility, given the party’s true interest in functioning government. They are smarter than me, to be sure. It just seems to me that giving the GOP this out further encourages bad acts from MAGA.

  5. I love how the Republicans cannibalizing themselves is seen as “the County” being broken. No, your shitpan party is broken and been in a slow role into the cesspit for decades. The Democrats are demonstrating governance while the Republicans are demonstrating we need to refund mental health services, stat.

    Or, as Jack Nicholson put it, “I want the people to know that they still have two (OK, really 1.5) out of three branches of the government working for them, and that ain’t bad.”

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

528 more replies

Participants

Avatar for lestatdelc Avatar for austin_dave Avatar for trnc Avatar for inversion Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for christianhankel Avatar for arrendis Avatar for jkrogman Avatar for leftcoaster Avatar for ronbyers Avatar for fiftygigs Avatar for darrtown Avatar for pshah Avatar for reggid Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for jonney_5 Avatar for southerndem Avatar for noonm Avatar for erik_t Avatar for 19tibekius6 Avatar for bcgister Avatar for saeomon Avatar for zenicetus Avatar for trustywoods

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: