October 18, 2023
For the 15th day in a row we will not have a House Speaker.
That’s because after losing the second round of votes this morning, Representative Jim Jordan has decided there will be no more votes tonight. His allies say Jim Jordan isn’t going to bow out. Instead he is going to continue to work on converting the now 22 Republicans who voted against him into yes votes and then try for another full House vote tomorrow at noon.
But here’s the thing – word on the street is those 22 could actually grow into more no votes during the third ballot tomorrow.
So in the end the House Republicans are going to have to figure out how much more of this dysfunction they can take. As I have reported repeatedly – the decision about who is the House Speaker must be made by the party that holds the majority. It’s not the job of the minority party. No Democrats voted for Kevin McCarthy or Steve Scalise or Jim Jordan. Just like no Republicans voted for Nancy Pelosi when republicans were the house minority party. I don’t make the rules – that’s just how it works. In practical terms, today — this means – this entire situation is the responsibility of the Republicans. It started with one Republican calling for a motion to fire former House Speaker McCarthy and it ends with the Republicans selecting one member of their party and getting behind that one member with 217 votes.
Lots of you have been asking if Hakeem Jeffries the house Democrat leader can win. Technically anyone can win…as long as that person receives the majority of house votes – which in this Congress is 217 votes. So far, Hakeem Jeffries has received 212 votes – literally every single house Democrat has voted for him. But 212 is not 217. And yes – theoretically five Republicans could cross party lines and vote for Jeffries but I can almost guarantee you – with this particular Republican conference that will never happen.
