Fractured US House Republicans to try again to elect a leader

[October 19, 2023]  By David Morgan, Moira Warburton and Makini Brice

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives will hold a third vote to elect a speaker on Thursday, in an attempt to overcome divisions that have immobilized the leaderless chamber for 16 days.

Hardline conservative Jim Jordan will seek the chamber's approval for the third day in a row, after twice failing to secure the necessary 217 votes.

The struggles of the Ohio lawmaker, backed by former President Donald Trump, mirror those of ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who took four days to win the speaker's gavel in January. While McCarthy slowly gained support over 15 rounds of balloting, Jordan has lost ground: 22 of his fellow Republicans voted against him on Wednesday, two more than the initial vote.

That has Republicans considering a fallback option that would allow Congress to tackle urgent matters like funding for Israel and Ukraine, as well as averting a partial government shutdown less than a month away.

Opponents say the Ohio lawmaker could lose by a bigger margin when the House returns at noon ET (1600 GMT) for a third vote.

The prolonged leadership battle has laid bare divisions among Republicans who control the chamber by a narrow 221-212 margin.

"There are factions, definitely factions, that's all I can say. I haven't seen it like this before," said Republican Representative Brian Babin, who voted for Jordan.

A small group of Republicans ousted McCarthy from the speaker's chair on Oct. 3, and the chamber's No. 2 Republican, Steve Scalise, dropped his leadership bid last week after he was unable to line up the 217 votes.

'WE NEED A PLAN'

That has not deterred Jordan, who got 200 votes in his first attempt on Tuesday and 199 votes on Wednesday, less support than McCarthy drew in any of the January votes.

"We need a plan more than a person right now," said Republican Representative Bruce Westerman, who also voted for Jordan. "Doesn't matter who's sitting in the speaker's chair if you don't have a plan."

Some Republicans and Democrats say they should instead award more authority to Representative Patrick McHenry, who is filling the speaker's chair on a temporary basis.

The chamber's top Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries, said his caucus would not support any leadership plan that involved Jordan taking the gavel.

"That bipartisan path cannot be Jim Jordan, who's a poster child for MAGA extremism and a clear and present danger to our democracy," Jeffries said, referring to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

After thirteen rounds of voting the chair of the Speaker of the House still sits empty on the dais of the U.S. House of Representatives on the fourth day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

That could allow Congress to approve U.S. government funding before a Nov. 17 deadline, and consider other legislation that has been put on hold, like disaster aid and crop subsidies.

Democrats and two past Republican House speakers have backed that idea, but McHenry himself has not.

"My effort is focused on getting Jim Jordan the speakership," he told reporters on Wednesday.

Republicans could struggle to govern even if they do settle on a leader. Lawmakers in the party remain divided even after winning limited spending cuts in a showdown this spring that brought Washington to the edge of default.

"The honeymoon is going to be really, really short. Because then you've got to perform and that is going to challenge the best of us," said Republican Representative Steve Womack, a Jordan opponent.

Unlike other leaders in Congress, Jordan built his profile as an uncompromising advocate for the party's right wing, clashing with Republicans and Democrats alike.

He encouraged government shutdowns in 2013 and 2018 and was a "significant player" in Trump's attempts to overturn Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 election win, according to a congressional investigation. He is helping to lead an impeachment investigation of Biden that Democrats say is baseless.

Jordan's supporters say he would be an effective advocate for conservative polices in a city where Democrats control the White House and the Senate.

Republicans who have voted against him have cited differences on taxes and spending and accuse him of undercutting Scalise's leadership bid last week. Others have objected to efforts to get them to fall in line.

"Intimidating and threatening tactics do not - and will not - work," Republican Representative Mike Simpson wrote on social media.

(Reporting by David Morgan, Moira Warburton and Makini Brice, additional reporting by Katharine Jackson, writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Grant McCool)

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