House Republicans on Friday nominated Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a hard-right Republican and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to be the next speaker after he withdrew a challenge from a prominent conservative.
By a vote of 81 to 124, Mr. Trump defeated Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, an ally of ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Jordan defeated. Mr. As a protest candidate against Jordan, Mr. Scott presented himself effectively.
But Mr. Although Jordan won the race, his bid for speaker faced serious challenges after many prominent Republicans said they would not support him. This is a continuation of the party infighting that has been going on for the past few days, which has paralyzed the House.
Co-founder of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and former President Donald J. Trump’s favorite Mr. Jordan’s bid, a section of his supporters Mr. It came a week after McCarthy was fired and refused to back down. The party’s handpicked successor to Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who abruptly stepped down on Thursday.
Representative Ann Wagner of Missouri, Mr. He called Jordan’s candidacy a “non-starter.” Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who represents the district President Biden won, said Mr. Lawmakers said they were concerned about the will of hard-right members who refused to back Scalise.
“The truth is: If you reward bad behavior, you’re going to get more of it,” Mr. Bacon said.
Mr. If Jordan succeeds in attracting a majority in the House Ford would be second in line for the presidency, a significant surge for Republicans popular in the party’s far-right base. His combative style and disdain for compromise have plagued past GOP speakers.
During the intra-party competition on Wednesday, Mr. Mr. Scalise won by just 14 votes. Surpassed Jordan. But instead of strengthening his narrow base of supporters, Mr. Scalise immediately began hemorrhaging supporters, as lawmakers from many factions said they did not want to get behind him. After about 30 hours he pulled out of the tournament.
Mr. Jordan and his supporters hoped to avoid a similar fate, but it was unclear whether he would succeed in unifying the party.
Mr. Rep. Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, a supporter of Jordan, acknowledged that Republicans won’t support him because they don’t want to reward that behavior.
But he mr. He argued that Jordan should not be judged by the behavior of his staunchest supporters and warned that it would be difficult for any Republican to win a majority.
“I don’t think a lot of people have 217,” said Mr. Armstrong said.
Some members predicted a fight that could drag on for weeks, including Rep. Patrick D. of North Carolina. They also discussed how to give McHenry — the speaker pro tempore whose primary job is to conduct an election for a speaker — more power. Chamber work until the conflict is resolved.
Annie Gurney, Katie Edmondson And Karoon Demirjian Contributed report.
