According to Jim Jordan: America is looking for the speaker of parliament – the glut of candidates

US House of Representatives
America is looking for the Speaker of Parliament – Part III, the flood of candidates

Probably no one is sad that the right-wing hardliner Jim Jordan failed in the election for US Parliament speaker. But that doesn’t solve the actual problem. Ten Republicans are now pushing into the spotlight.

After two and a half grueling weeks, many observers are taking refuge in cynicism: the only difference between a leaderless House of Representatives and a House of Representatives led by the right-wing hardliner Jim Jordan would be that the MPs wouldn’t decide anything meaningful, but at least they could. Jokes like these allude to the huge mountains of expenses and spending that the MPs actually have to approve: for example the state budget or military aid. But without a speaker, parliament is unable to act. And a Trump man like Jim Jordan in this position would probably not have put such decisions on the agenda in the first place.

Parliamentary terrorist Jim Jordan without a majority

The Republican right-winger had run as a candidate for speaker three times in the past few days and failed three times – with worse results each time. Because of his strict blockade against almost all of his colleagues’ projects, he is called a “parliamentary terrorist”. The idea that someone like that would occupy the third-highest office in the United States frightened even his own party colleagues. On Friday, after his third defeat, he was removed as a candidate by his group. Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America great again) movement may be denied the levers of power for the time being, but the country is still not one step further.

So the drama continues for now. With the Republicans anyway. They had removed their own man, Kevin McCarthy, from the post at the beginning of October, shutting down the entire country. Exactly at a time when US President Joe Biden is jetting around the world to put out one fire after another. However, without the help of the US Congress. Most recently, he applied for the equivalent of a good 94 billion euros in aid for Ukraine and Israel. The interim budget also expires in mid-November. If nothing happens in this regard, there is a risk of a so-called government shutdown – the administration of the country would, as it were, cease.

Will the transition man be given more powers?

In short: The USA urgently needs a new speaker of parliament. Although there is a transition man for the office in Patrick McHenry, he lacks the powers. For example, to schedule votes on the big issues. Some MPs from both factions are therefore toying with the idea of ​​simply giving McHenry the relevant rights. But to do that, the Republicans would have to work with the Democrats – for some conservatives, an even scarier idea than seeing a destroyer like Jim Jordan in the speaker’s seat.

The failed Jordan was only the second choice anyway. After Speaker McCarthy was overthrown, Steve Scalise, also an arch-conservative, initially applied. The majority didn’t want him either. With the renewed failure, the floodgates now seem to be opening for the Republicans: According to the Washington political site Axios, ten MPs are interested in the job: including Tom Emmer, a kind of faction leader. He has been given the best chances so far. However, nothing happens in the party without the approval of former President Donald Trump. His supporters are more likely to be MPs like Mike Johnson and Kevin Hern, who could also throw their hat into the ring.

It continues on Monday. Or Tuesday

How things will continue in the House of Representatives, other than being very chaotic, is completely open. In any case, Republican representatives are frustrated and angry. MP Dusty Johnson said that the blind ambition of individuals had torpedoed the process and that this “nonsense” was “frustrating” and had to stop. However, there will still be “a few days of chaos” until a solution is found.

The Republicans want to meet again on Monday, and the next round of elections in the House of Representatives could take place on Tuesday. With which speaker candidate – questionable.

Sources: Axios“New York Times“, APDPA, AFP