House GOP ditches Jordan, plans to choose new speaker nominee next week

After House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) failed a third time today to be elected Speaker of the House, House Republicans have officially dumped Jordan as their speaker nominee.

The secret-ballot caucus vote – which came out as 86 in favor of retaining Jordan, 112 in favor of ditching him – prolongs what has become a protracted battle for leadership of the House. Following the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy on October 3, Jordan was chosen as the GOP speaker nominee last week, but a cohort of Republicans refused to support him on the floor.

One of those anti-Jordan Republicans, at least in today’s third and final floor vote, was New Jersey Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield). Kean supported Jordan on the first two ballots, but switched to voting for McCarthy today, becoming one of the 25 Republicans who blocked Jordan from the speakership.

“For the past nearly three weeks, my number one priority has always been getting Congress moving again to do the work of the American people,” Kean said in a statement on the vote to dump Jordan. “With great respect, it became evident that Chairman Jordan did not and would not have the votes to become Speaker. The People’s House must begin governing again. I look forward to speaking with new candidates over the next few days.”

New Jersey’s other Republican congressmen, Reps. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) and Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis), voted for Jordan through all three ballots. Still, both said that now that Jordan is no longer the official nominee, they’re ready to start looking at other candidates, who are scheduled to appear before the GOP caucus for a candidate forum next Monday.

“I’m a supporter of Jim Jordan, but he’s made his decision, he’s not moving forward,” Van Drew said. “It is time for us to regroup.”

Asked whether he had any preferences for who the next speaker should be – several candidates have already launched bids – Van Drew declined to say.

“I sure do, but I’m not going to say them, I don’t want to jinx it,” he said. “I preferred Jim Jordan and that didn’t go so well.”

The big question is whether any Republican can get to the 217 votes needed to be elected on the House floor. McCarthy, Jordan, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) have all fallen short this month; it remains to be seen if someone else will have more luck.

Should Republicans remain unable to choose a permanent speaker, some have suggested working to empower current Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-North Carolina) – possibly with the help of House Democrats. But Smith said he’s strongly opposed to that proposal.

“I’m not for [voting with Democrats],” he said. “We should get this right, for the sake of our caucus, but above all for the sake of the country.”

Despite the chaos that has engulfed the House, Smith said he’s still optimistic that the Republican caucus will find a way out of its jam, and that this saga will be remembered as only a small wrinkle in an otherwise productive congressional session.

“We will get a speaker,” Smith said. “We’ll look back on this, months from now, and say, it was a significant speedbump at the time. But a lot of our work will still get done. It’s been delayed, but it’s not been delayed irreparably at all. And I do think we will get the job done.”

This story was updated at 6:10 p.m. with comment from Kean.