House GOP Drops Jordan's Speaker Candidacy After Third Failed Floor Vote

In what could be the final nail in the coffin of Ohio GOP Congressman Jim Jordan's speakership bid, U.S. House Republicans on Friday secretly voted to drop the far-right 2020 election denier's candidacy, leaving the fractured party without a nominee for the chamber's top job more than two weeks after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's ouster.

The clandestine GOP move—in which 112 Republicans elected to drop Jordan and only 86 supported his bid—came after Jordan, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, on Friday failed to garner enough support in a third House floor vote on his proposed speakership.

Jordan lost three Republican supporters since the last roll call vote, finishing with 194 of 217 required votes. All Democrats present voted for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who received 210 votes.

"The third time was not the charm," said Emily Trifone, deputy communications director for the Democratic Attorneys General Association.

The Hillreported that the GOP conference on Thursday rejected a proposal to temporarily appoint Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), an apparent last-ditch attempt to resume House business during the unresolved struggle for a new leader.

Responding to the third failed vote on Jordan, McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, "We are in a very bad place right now."

In a statement, President Joe Biden's reelection campaign slammed "MAGA House Republicans' self-inflicted chaos and chronic inability to govern."

"It is embarrassing that MAGA House Republicans continue to let the petty sniping and infighting in their own party prevent them from working with the president on bipartisan national security priorities," the statement added. "Voters will remember how when world events called for American leadership, President Biden stepped up and MAGA House Republicans humiliated themselves and failed the American people."

It's back to the drawing board for House Republicans, who have until Sunday to declare speaker candidates ahead of Monday's scheduled restart of the selection process.

"It's a pleasure to get to vote against Jim Jordan every single day, but I never thought that would be my job," Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) quipped on social media. "Come on GOP, let's get back to work."