With Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise (R) out of the House Speaker conversation, all eyes now shift to Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan (R). REp. Jordan fell short of receiving the necessary votes for the nomination. However, with Republicans now looking to Jordan for leadership, the question persists if Jordan can get the necessary votes to become House Speaker.
Prior to Scalise becoming the nominee for speaker, some House Republicans shared that they were supporting him despite having voted for Jordan.
One such lawmaker is Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R), who shared that she had voted for Jordan but would be supporting Scalise because he would support defunding Jack Smith, he would support an impeachment vote, and he would also support subpoenaing Hunter Biden.
After sharing that she had spoken to Scalise, Luna also shared that she would be supporting whoever Jordan endorsed, which ended up being Scalise.
“If there is no consensus candidate, we must find one the conference agrees on,” she added, commenting that “we are currently without leadership in a divided conference, facing a weaponized government, while facing a war that has broken out in Israel where Americans have been killed by terrorists.”
With over 1,300 Israelis killed, 27 Americans killed, and numerous hostages in Gaza, Republicans are looking for a new speaker of the house to both unite the party and get the House back to work.
Taking to social media to share his thoughts on the leadership, Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R) announced his support for Jordan.
“I’m with Jim Jordan,” Crenshaw shared, adding, “Let’s get this done and on with the business of governing.”
To become speaker of the house, Jordan would roughly need 217 votes. In a meeting with Republican House members, Scalise defeated Jordan in a 113-99 vote. However, after Republicans shared they would not be voting for him as speaker, Scalise announced that he was withdrawing his nomination.
“I just shared with my colleagues that I’m withdrawing my name as a candidate for the speaker designee," Scalise told reporters.
