After Rep. Jim Jordan failed again Wednesday to become House speaker, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said the only way for Congress to move forward is for Jordan to give up.
Jordan, a hard-right Republican from Ohio, fell short on a crucial second ballot, collecting fewer votes than he did on Tuesday’s first ballot. Bacon has voted against him both times.
Bacon said he has no issues with Jordan as a person, but does have a problem with his loudest supporters, who were largely behind the ousting of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker earlier this month. He said this small group of representatives is the reason Congress is locked in a stalemate.
“You can’t have a minority of the majority run the House, and that’s what’s going on,” Bacon said.
Bacon also took issue with what he called a “bullying campaign” by Jordan’s supporters who have harassed Bacon and his family, and said Jordan should denounce those efforts. He shared anonymous texts sent to his wife that called him a disappointment and failure.
“A lot of folks have lost all sense of boundaries,” Bacon said.
Next steps in Congress were highly uncertain as angry, frustrated Republicans looked at other options. A bipartisan group of lawmakers floated an extraordinary plan — to give the interim speaker-pro-tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., more power to reopen the immobilized House and temporarily conduct routine business.
What was clear was that Jordan’s path to become House speaker was in trouble. He was opposed by 22 Republicans, two more than in the first round.
Jordan, a founding member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, vowed to stay in the race.
“We’ll keep talking to members, keep working on it,” he said.
Bacon said that if Jordan steps down, he believes the House could elect a new speaker fairly quickly.
Bacon has cast his vote for McCarthy instead of Jordan on both ballots. He said McCarthy remains his first choice for the role, and believes there is an avenue for him to regain his seat, although he wasn’t sure of the odds.
Bacon said there are other candidates he would support for speaker as well, such as Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., the House Rules Committee chairman. He also mentioned McHenry.
Bacon has not been shy in criticizing some of his hard-right colleagues, who have stalled passage of various budget measures and, he said, have risked a government shutdown. He said those fellow Republicans have hurt the country and damaged Congress in a way that may not fully heal before the next election.
There is important work that Congress isn’t able to get done due to the gridlock, Bacon said, listing the war between Israel and Palestine and the upcoming budget deadline. Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown at the end of September by passing a temporary spending plan that extended the deadline to Nov. 17.
Since then, Bacon said lawmakers have essentially taken a “two-week recess” from budget talks because of the speaker debate. Congress still must pass eight more appropriations bills to prevent a government shutdown, and Bacon said he doubted that will happen unless lawmakers pass another extension.
Bacon has urged House Republicans to work out a bipartisan deal with Democrats on the budget, which has earned him some criticism from Republicans. However, he defended his stance Wednesday, pointing out that the budget also needs to pass the Democratic-led Senate.
“That kind of language seems to elude a few of my colleagues,” Bacon said.
The GOP’s bitter showdown for speaker — a position of power second in line to the presidency — has gone on 15 days.
As Republicans upset and exhausted by the infighting retreated for private conversations, hundreds of demonstrators amassed outside the Capitol over the Israel-Hamas war, a stark reminder of the concern over having the House adrift as political challenges intensify at home and abroad.
Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Jordan, the combative Judiciary Committee chairman, made an unusual plea for party unity — almost daring his colleagues to put forward the alternative proposal for a temporary speaker.
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS Feed | Omny Studio
“We’ve been at this two weeks,” Jordan said at the Capitol. “American people deserve to have their government functioning.”
But as the roll call got underway, he lost more than he gained, picking up three backers but adding more detractors.
The holdouts added to a surprisingly large and politically diverse group of 20 Republicans who had rejected Jordan’s nomination the day before, many like Bacon resenting the hardball tactics seeking to enforce support, and Jordan as too extreme for a central seat of U.S. power.
With Republicans in majority control of the House, 221-212, Jordan must pick up most of his GOP foes to win. Wednesday’s tally, with 199 Republicans voting for Jordan and 212 for Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, left no candidate with a clear majority, as the 22 Republicans voted for someone else.
One new Jordan opponent, Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida, explained his vote: “I think it’s time to move on.”
Bipartisan groups of lawmakers have been floating ways to operate the House by giving greater power to McHenry or another temporary speaker. The House had never ousted its speaker before McCarthy, and McHenry could tap the temporary powers that were created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to ensure continuity of government.
The novel concept of boosting the interim speaker’s role was gaining favor with a pair of high-profile Republicans: Former GOP Speakers Newt Gingrich and John Boehner.
Gingrich said that while he likes Jordan, he has “no faith” the nominee can get much beyond the 200 votes he won in the first vote.
“We can’t sit around and suck our thumbs and hope the world will wait until the House Republicans get their act together,” Gingrich told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on his show.
Boehner reposted Gingrich’s views saying, “I agree,” on social media.
The two men have deep experience with the subject. Both were chased to early retirement.
“The Republicans are unable to function right now,” Jeffries said late Tuesday. “All options are on the table to end the Republican civil war,” he added Wednesday.
Jordan had relied on backing from Trump, the party’s front-runner in the 2024 election to challenge President Joe Biden.
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Jordan, a hard-right Republican from Ohio, fell short on a crucial second ballot, collecting fewer votes than he did on Tuesday’s first ballot. Bacon has voted against him both times.
Bacon said he has no issues with Jordan as a person, but does have a problem with his loudest supporters, who were largely behind the ousting of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker earlier this month. He said this small group of representatives is the reason Congress is locked in a stalemate.
“You can’t have a minority of the majority run the House, and that’s what’s going on,” Bacon said.
Bacon also took issue with what he called a “bullying campaign” by Jordan’s supporters who have harassed Bacon and his family, and said Jordan should denounce those efforts. He shared anonymous texts sent to his wife that called him a disappointment and failure.
“A lot of folks have lost all sense of boundaries,” Bacon said.
Next steps in Congress were highly uncertain as angry, frustrated Republicans looked at other options. A bipartisan group of lawmakers floated an extraordinary plan — to give the interim speaker-pro-tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., more power to reopen the immobilized House and temporarily conduct routine business.
What was clear was that Jordan’s path to become House speaker was in trouble. He was opposed by 22 Republicans, two more than in the first round.
Jordan, a founding member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, vowed to stay in the race.
“We’ll keep talking to members, keep working on it,” he said.
Bacon said that if Jordan steps down, he believes the House could elect a new speaker fairly quickly.
Bacon has cast his vote for McCarthy instead of Jordan on both ballots. He said McCarthy remains his first choice for the role, and believes there is an avenue for him to regain his seat, although he wasn’t sure of the odds.
Bacon said there are other candidates he would support for speaker as well, such as Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., the House Rules Committee chairman. He also mentioned McHenry.
Bacon has not been shy in criticizing some of his hard-right colleagues, who have stalled passage of various budget measures and, he said, have risked a government shutdown. He said those fellow Republicans have hurt the country and damaged Congress in a way that may not fully heal before the next election.
There is important work that Congress isn’t able to get done due to the gridlock, Bacon said, listing the war between Israel and Palestine and the upcoming budget deadline. Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown at the end of September by passing a temporary spending plan that extended the deadline to Nov. 17.
Since then, Bacon said lawmakers have essentially taken a “two-week recess” from budget talks because of the speaker debate. Congress still must pass eight more appropriations bills to prevent a government shutdown, and Bacon said he doubted that will happen unless lawmakers pass another extension.
Bacon has urged House Republicans to work out a bipartisan deal with Democrats on the budget, which has earned him some criticism from Republicans. However, he defended his stance Wednesday, pointing out that the budget also needs to pass the Democratic-led Senate.
“That kind of language seems to elude a few of my colleagues,” Bacon said.
The GOP’s bitter showdown for speaker — a position of power second in line to the presidency — has gone on 15 days.
As Republicans upset and exhausted by the infighting retreated for private conversations, hundreds of demonstrators amassed outside the Capitol over the Israel-Hamas war, a stark reminder of the concern over having the House adrift as political challenges intensify at home and abroad.
Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Jordan, the combative Judiciary Committee chairman, made an unusual plea for party unity — almost daring his colleagues to put forward the alternative proposal for a temporary speaker.
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS Feed | Omny Studio
“We’ve been at this two weeks,” Jordan said at the Capitol. “American people deserve to have their government functioning.”
But as the roll call got underway, he lost more than he gained, picking up three backers but adding more detractors.
The holdouts added to a surprisingly large and politically diverse group of 20 Republicans who had rejected Jordan’s nomination the day before, many like Bacon resenting the hardball tactics seeking to enforce support, and Jordan as too extreme for a central seat of U.S. power.
With Republicans in majority control of the House, 221-212, Jordan must pick up most of his GOP foes to win. Wednesday’s tally, with 199 Republicans voting for Jordan and 212 for Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, left no candidate with a clear majority, as the 22 Republicans voted for someone else.
One new Jordan opponent, Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida, explained his vote: “I think it’s time to move on.”
Bipartisan groups of lawmakers have been floating ways to operate the House by giving greater power to McHenry or another temporary speaker. The House had never ousted its speaker before McCarthy, and McHenry could tap the temporary powers that were created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to ensure continuity of government.
The novel concept of boosting the interim speaker’s role was gaining favor with a pair of high-profile Republicans: Former GOP Speakers Newt Gingrich and John Boehner.
Gingrich said that while he likes Jordan, he has “no faith” the nominee can get much beyond the 200 votes he won in the first vote.
“We can’t sit around and suck our thumbs and hope the world will wait until the House Republicans get their act together,” Gingrich told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on his show.
Boehner reposted Gingrich’s views saying, “I agree,” on social media.
The two men have deep experience with the subject. Both were chased to early retirement.
“The Republicans are unable to function right now,” Jeffries said late Tuesday. “All options are on the table to end the Republican civil war,” he added Wednesday.
Jordan had relied on backing from Trump, the party’s front-runner in the 2024 election to challenge President Joe Biden.
Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon calls for Jim Jordan to give up House speaker bid
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said the only way for Congress to move forward is for Ohio Republican Jim Jordan to give up his bid to become Speaker of the House.
