Jim Jordan lacks enough support on first House speaker round: Next vote scheduled for Wednesday

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries suggested tonight that Democrats would be open to working with interim Speaker Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.

Jeffries, D-N.Y., said that McHenry “is respected on our side of the aisle” and that other Republicans are, as well — but not Jordan.

Pressed about which Democrats have said they’re open to working with McHenry, Jeffries said that there are “informal conversations that have accelerated over the past few days” and that he hopes they accelerate this evening given Jordan’s failure to secure the 217 votes needed to become speaker.

Asked whether Jeffries was talking about a temporary or a permanent speaker, he said, “All options are on the table.”

Jeffries himself said that he doesn’t have any meetings planned with McHenry but that Democrats are ready and willing to work with Republicans. He also shot down the idea of a power-sharing agreement, acknowledging that Republicans control the chamber.

Asked this evening how many ballots he's willing to go through, Jordan told reporters, "Till we get a speaker."

"We gotta have a speaker, and it can't be some deal with the Democrats," he added.

Jordan compared his situation to McCarthy's in January, saying the votes he got in the first round put him "right about where Kevin was."

McCarthy was elected in January on the 15th ballot.

Jordan said this evening the House won't be holding any more speaker votes tonight. Instead, the next vote will be tomorrow morning at 11.

Jordan is huddling with allies in GOP Whip Tom Emmer’s first-floor office in the Capitol.

Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., popped in and out, as did a fellow Freedom Caucus member, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md.

Rep. Warren Davidson, a fellow Ohio Republican who sat next to Jordan during the first ballot, told reporters during the break that the Jordan team was making progress. “Definitely we’ve seen movement already,” he said, “and we’re encouraged by the progress.”

The House could move forward on another round of speaker voting around 6 p.m. ET, according to a source familiar with the planning.

Several of the Jordan holdouts — including Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Kay Granger, Steve Womack, Mike Simpson, Carlos Gimenez and Mariannette Miller-Meeks — called for McHenry to start another round of votes.

Jordan and Scalise met in Scalise’s office after the vote on the floor, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., one of the 20 Jordan defectors, said he will keep voting for Scalise on future ballots unless there is a consensus candidate that emerges. “I kinda like Patrick McHenry,” Rutherford said of the interim speaker.

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a freshman from New York, also pointed to SALT deductions, which allow residents of high-income taxed states to deduct a portion of their state and local taxes from their federal returns. The deductions are a pain point for residents of high-tax states like New York after Republicans in 2017 capped the amount they could deduct at $10,000.

D’Esposito noted that he was looking forward to discussing the matter with "candidates," though Jordan is the only Republican currently in the running.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said that there was frustration among Republicans after the outcome of the first vote.

When asked if any of the no votes had surprised her, she said that she had expected most of them, but criticized several unexpected votes.

"Not sure what Victoria Spartz is thinking. Most of the time, we don’t know," Greene said of the Indiana Republican.

When asked who could be a possible alternative candidate to Jordan, she replied, "Right now we’re voting for Jim Jordan."

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., told reporters that McCarthy didn't reach out to him in an effort to convince him to back Jordan for speaker.

"He's said publicly that he’s supporting Jim Jordan, but I haven’t received the phone call. So no, no, I can’t say that I’ve spoken to him about that," Gimenez said.

He continued, "But I’m not supporting Jim Jordan. I’m supporting Kevin McCarthy. I think Kevin McCarthy was the choice of the conference — 96 percent of us voted to maintain him as speaker. So you know, for me, I don’t know why we’re settling. We should go back to what we had."

This is where Jordan’s lack of organization shows up. While McCarthy was slogging through votes, he had surrogates on TV, people were whipping, and meeting; it felt like there was a plan.

Jordan hasn’t demonstrated the same organization and has simply suggested he’ll make some calls. McCarthy had weeks between when he was nominated and when he faced a floor vote, while Jordan has only had days.

Jordan spokesman Russell Dye said that member should prepare for more votes today. "The House needs a speaker as soon as possible. Expect another round of votes today. It’s time for Republicans to come together," he said.

It is not clear what time the vote would take place. Jordan appears to be still meeting with members inside the chamber and/or cloakroom out of sight.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who gave birth to her first child in late August, brought her 7-week-old baby to the speaker vote.

She passed the child to Rep. Ogles who held it for awhile.

Twenty Republicans broke with Jordan on the first ballot, selecting former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Steve Scalise and others.

A GOP lawmaker, who is a Jordan backer, just said they are aware of 5 to 6 Republicans who say they will not support Jordan on the second ballot after voting for him on the first.

That means Jordan’s list of defectors grows rather than shrinks on a second round.

A photographer in the House chamber snapped a photo of McCarthy laughing behind Jordan.

Jordan is currently making the rounds inside the House chamber with the few holdouts still inside. He approached Diaz-Balart in the back of the House chamber, the two shook hands and then sat down to talk. Then Jordan spoke with Rutherford.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said to reporters after the vote today that he was "confident in Jim" and that the vote now allows Jordan to "get with these individual members who have now identified himself."

Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., wrote in a post on X shortly after the vote: "Don't listen to the detractors who want a weak speaker." He criticized moderate members of the Republican Party who have said they want a more centrist speaker, saying that their criticism means "we know we're doing something right."

Diaz-Balart, Womack, Granger, D’Esposito, LaLota, Lawler and Rutherford huddled in the back of the chamber. None of them voted for Jordan.

Rep. John James, R-Mich, voted for Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.

Jordan: 200

Jeffries: 212

McCarthy: 6

Zeldin: 3

Scalise: 7

Garcia: 1

Emmer: 1

Cole: 1

Massie: 1

Colorado Republican Rep. Ken Buck was once the archetypal too-conservative-to-get-elected tea party candidate. Now, he has become one of a small handful of moderate holdouts complicating his party’s efforts to elect a new speaker, a telling indication of how much both Buck and his party have changed in the past decade.

Buck was one of 20 GOP dissenters who voted against Jordan on the first ballot. And he has said he cannot vote for a speaker who refuses to acknowledge that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. He's also been pushing to protect Ukraine aid. 

“If we don’t have the moral clarity to decide whether President Biden won or not, we don’t have the moral clarity to rule in this country, period,” Buck told reporters last week. Later, on MSNBC, he said his fellow Republicans were afraid of the “political penalty” they would pay for acknowledging Biden won.

It’s a striking turn of events from when Buck first emerged in national politics in 2010 as the “mascot for anti-establishment conservatives,” as Politico dubbed him at the time.

Then, Buck was a little-known tea party candidate who defeated the establishment-backed former lieutenant governor in a GOP Senate primary. But he went on to lose the general election to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, despite a very favorable national climate for Republicans, which turned him into a cautionary tale of conservative overreach costing the GOP race. "Senate seats ... essentially given away,” as then-Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-Ohio, wrote for Politico of Buck and others in his cohort.

In 2014, Buck ran again, this time for a House seat, though still as a conservative. He won, but as the GOP shifted to the right and as Trump forced the GOP into increasingly high-stakes loyalty tests, Buck grew uncomfortable and emerged as a critic of Trump and his party’s right flank. Last month, he even wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post decrying his party’s rush to impeach Biden.

"I wish we could take whatever it was that happened to Ken Buck and replicate it 217ish times," Tim Miller, a former Republican strategist turned anti-Trump activist said on the social media platform X.

This round of votes marks the 16th time in history that the House has needed multiple ballots to elect a speaker.

The House has headed into recess.

Jordan failed to secure enough support in the first round of votes to secure the speakership. Remember that Kevin McCarthy took 15 rounds to become speaker in January.

The House remains deadlocked as Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, failed to secure enough votes to become speaker on the first ballot.

The vote was 200 for Jordan and 232 voting for someone else. Jordan could afford to lose only three GOP votes, given that Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida, a Jordan supporter, missed the vote due to a funeral. Jordan lost 20 Republicans.

Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., did not vote by voice but voted for Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., after the roll call vote ended.

Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., voted McCarthy.

On the House floor, Maxine Waters, D-Calif., says the vote between Jordan and Jeffries is a race between a "true patriot Hakeem Jeffries vs. an insurrectionist."

Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., voted for Scalise.

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., voted for Jordan during the first round of voting and was met with a standing ovation from the Republican party.

Scalise dropped out of the speaker race on Thursday after previously being the presumptive GOP nominee over Jordan after last week's secret ballot.

Rep. Michael Simpson, R-Idaho, voted Scalise.

Jordan sat and talked with Simpson for a while before this vote. 

Rep. John Rutherford, R-Pa., voted Scalise.

Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, voted for Jeffries, her first vote since her husband was killed in a plane crash in September.

LaLota explained his vote for Zeldin in a post on X.

"Rather than cast my ballot for a Speaker-Candidate who doesn’t have the votes and hasn’t demonstrated support for SALT for my constituents nor a plan to keep our government open while advancing the Commitment to America, I will cast my first ballot for Speaker for @leezeldin," he said. (SALT is short for State and Local Tax.)

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., voted McCarthy.

Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., voted McCarthy.

Rep. LaLota votes for fellow New Yorker Lee Zeldin.

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York, who has received several votes for speaker in today's vote, endorsed Jim Jordan for speaker last night in a post on X.

Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., voted Scalise. He's the 10th Republican to not vote for Jordan.

Kay Granger, R-Texas, voted against Jordan, putting her vote in for Scalise.

Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer explained her vote for McCarthy in a post on X.

"I'm supporting Kevin McCarthy because he's the only member who's received anywhere close to the 217 votes needed to select a speaker," she said. "I'll continue to reassess where things stand as this process plays out."

Rep. Carlos Giménez, R-Fla., voted McCarthy for speaker.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino voted for fellow New Yorker, former Rep. Lee Zeldin.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., voted for Scalise on the first ballot.

Jake Ellzey, R-Texas, voted for Mike Garcia, R-Calif.

When Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., voted, he said, “No to insurrectionists. I vote for Hakeem Jeffries.”

Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, R-N.Y., voted for former Rep. Lee Zeldin for speaker.

Jordan has lost more than three Republican votes — which means if he is unable to flip those votes at the end of the roll call, he is unlikely to have enough support to be elected speaker on this ballot.

Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., voted for McCarthy on the first ballot.

That is two Republicans who have now not voted for Jordan.

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., is absent. Buck previously said he is opposed to Jordan’s speakership bid. He has said he wants to hear from Jordan, who boosted Trump's false claims of a rigged election, that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Ne., voted for McCarthy on the first ballot.

Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee, said in a post on X, "I can’t believe this is happening after January 6. If Trump can get to another electoral college House Speaker will be able to subvert votes of the people/ This is first act in insurrection 2.0."

The post appeared to have been quickly removed. Shortly after he posted, "I can’t believe this is happening. Election denier and plotter and subpoena evader is the REPUBLICAN CHOICE."

The clerk has begun reading the names of lawmakers aloud, members will respond with their candidate of choice or mark themselves as “present.”

McCarthy is seated one row behind Jordan.

Notable that Scalise is not seated with the rest of the leadership team. Stefanik and Emmer are together. Scalise is way over on the side with a few rank-and-file members.

It's notable that Aguilar mentions New York and the west in his nominating speech of Jeffries — aiming at front liners or districts that are most likely to swing in the next election.

Pete Aguilar took the podium to nominate Jeffries to be speaker of the House.

"We're here because the House has been led by extremists and partisanship," Aguilar said.

He continued throughout his nomination, adding that the House is "debating a speaker nominee who has not passed a single bill in 16 years." The Democratic side could be heard chanting "Hakeem."

The Democratic side of the aisle bursts out ooohs and chuckles when Elise Stefanik mentions Jim Jordan’s wrestling past.

Several former Ohio State University wrestlers have accused Jordan, their former assistant coach, of covering up sexual abuse allegations against school doctor Richard Strauss.

“He doesn’t deserve to be House speaker,” one of them said in a recent interview. “He still has to answer for what happened to us.”

Jordan’s spokesman denied the congressman knew about the abuse while working at OSU.

There are 432 House members who voted present. (One is absent for a funeral, and two seats are empty.)

That means that Jordan will need 217 votes to be elected speaker, if everyone who is present today votes.

Jordan is now seated where McCarthy sat during most of the votes in January. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, is next to him plus a staffer on the other side.

The attendance vote is still ongoing — there are still four Republicans and two Democrats who haven't voted present.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., told Meet the Press NOW why House Republicans need a “consensus candidate.”

Republican Reps. Nick Lalota and Mike Lawler of New York, John Rutherford of Florida and Don Bacon of Nebraska stood together in the chamber ahead of the quorum call. None of them are expected to support Jordan for speaker.

Steve Kornacki breaks down the 217 votes Jordan needs to be speaker.

Jordan is making the rounds, shaking hands with supporters. He’s wearing a suit jacket, which he often lacks. He is now seated in the back of the chamber in conversation with Mike Simpson of Idaho.

The House is holding a quorum call — essentially taking attendance to see who is there today.

This will give everyone a sense of how many votes Jordan will need to be elected speaker by accounting for any absences.

He needs 217 votes if everyone is in attendance, but that number could drop if there are missing lawmakers.

The House clerk called today's session into order at just after noon.

Speaking to reporters as he left a Manhattan courtroom around 11:30 a.m. ET, Trump told reporters that he believes Jordan will be House speaker and that people who were not supporting him 24 hours ago will now get behind him.

“I think Jim will be speaker of the House. He’s a fantastic young man,” he said of the 59-year-old Jordan. “He’s pretty young, still. And very strong. He has very proper opinions about our country, he loves our country. He wants to see it do well, and I think he’s going to be confirmed sometime soon.”

“As you know many people have now supported him, 24 hours ago they were supporting somebody else,” he added. “There seems to be great unification. I think Jim Jordan will be a great speaker.”

Trump said he thinks Jordan will have the votes he needs “soon.”

“If not today, over the next day or two,” he said.

House lawmakers are trickling into the chamber for the speaker vote now. Rep. Stefanik is sitting at the GOP microphone where she will nominate Jordan.

House conservatives who helped oust McCarthy, including Gaetz, Burchett, Biggs and Good, are sitting together toward the rear of the chamber in their usual spot.

The gallery is already filled with tourists waiting to watch the vote.

After leaving his office this morning, Jordan told reporters that “we feel really good” when asked if he thinks he has the votes on the floor needed to win the speakership today.

“We need to get a speaker today, and we feel really good about where we’re at,” he said.

Pressed on whether he would go multiple ballots, Jordan said, “Whatever it takes to get a speaker today.”

Asked about some of the concerns he has heard from members, Jordan sidestepped the question, saying that he has been “picking up support every day” and that he feels “confident.”

Jordan also told reporters that he hasn’t spoken to former President Donald Trump “in a couple of days.” Trump endorsed Jordan for speaker in a post to his Truth Social platform this morning.

The House will meet at noon to vote on electing the next House speaker, but it remains unclear if Jordan has the 217 votes he needs to win.

After a weekend of working the phones and a big dose of pressure from the right, Jordan has narrowed the opposition within the GOP caucus from 55 Republicans to 10 or fewer, according to estimates by various lawmakers and NBC News. Of the potential holdouts, at least five members have said they’ll vote for either McCarthy or Scalise, while another three have raised doubts about whether they'll back Jordan, and still others won't say how they will vote.

Jordan is continuing to press his case, meeting with at least one holdout, Rep. Ken Buck, of Colorado, last night after a meeting of the Republican Conference.

Democrats, meanwhile, are planning to back Hakeem Jeffries, of New York.

There could be multiple ballots. Some GOP members, such as Don Bacon, of Nebraska, have pledged to vote against Jordan at least on the first ballot but also said they’ll take things one step at a time. Jordan and his allies have signaled he’s willing to go through multiple rounds of floor votes to win the job.

Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., will miss the speaker vote at noon today because he is attending his mother-in-law’s funeral this morning.

He’s expected back in Washington at 6 p.m.

Jordan has pitched his colleagues on an unorthodox plan to prevent a government shutdown on Nov. 17, but conference members have mixed feelings about it.

In recent meetings with House Republicans, Jordan, the right-wing firebrand from Ohio, has called for passing a stopgap bill to keep money flowing under existing law beyond April, according to a half-dozen lawmakers who heard his comments. The reason is that an across-the-board 1% cut, as tucked inside a recent debt-limit law, would then take effect, imposing reductions across agencies.

Jordan indicated to Republicans he believes the automatic cuts will give them leverage over Democrats on full-year funding bills as they work to pass individual appropriations bills. The reason, he believes, is that Democrats will want to switch off the automatic cuts as soon as possible and therefore accept more GOP demands.

“That is leverage,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus. “And I think he’ll get that."

Read the full story here.

Several Republicans who initially opposed Jordan’s bid for speaker now say they will support him.

Democrats are already crafting a strategy to use Jordan as a political weapon against Republicans in the next election if he becomes speaker.

In a memo to House Democrats, first shared with NBC News, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee urged party members and candidates to portray the entire GOP as beholden to radicals should Republicans hand him the speaker’s gavel.

There are “no more moderates left in the Republican conference,” the DCCC said in the memo, adding that Jordan will win only if “so-called ‘moderates’” opt to “cave” and elect him.

Read the full story here.