US House of Representatives
Arch-conservative Jim Jordan apparently doesn’t want to run for speaker a third time
Republican Jim Jordan wanted the third highest office in the USA – apparently not after all
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Jim Jordan gives up his bid to become Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He failed in two rounds of voting. His Republican faction is deeply divided over the search for a candidate for the third highest office in the USA.
The hardliner Jim Jordan
The representative from Ohio belongs to the right-wing fringe of the group and has been a loyal Trump loyalist for years. He was part of the defense team in Trump’s first impeachment trial and also stood by his side in the second impeachment trial against the then-President because of the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021. Jordan now heads the influential Judiciary Committee, which is also investigating President Biden.
Not long ago it seemed unthinkable that a hardliner like Jordan could even be considered for the powerful post at the head of the parliamentary chamber. The chairman of the House of Representatives comes third in the US ranking after the president and his vice president. Jordan’s rise from right-wing rebel on the outer fringes of his party to potential candidate for the most powerful role in the congressional chamber shows how far the Republican faction has moved to the right and the influence Trump and his like-minded people have on the party.
The broken faction
The Republican faction is extremely fragmented and difficult to bring to a common denominator. McCarthy only made it to the chairmanship in the 15th ballot in January. After he was voted out, the group initially selected the right-wing conservative Steve Scalise as McCarthy’s possible successor. But Scalise was unable to secure the necessary majority within his own ranks and withdrew his candidacy before a vote in the plenary session.
The Republicans’ wrangling and the paralysis of Parliament are coming at an inopportune time in view of the major international conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, which the US Parliament should actually be dealing with – and not just for the USA. The House of Representatives has to decide, among other things, on further aid for Kiev, as well as on a federal budget as a whole. For now, only a transitional budget has been agreed until mid-November, which does not include any support for Ukraine.
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It could be plan B
For now, Republican Patrick McHenry is acting as interim leader in the House of Representatives, but that could now change. However, it is actually only intended for formal tasks, such as organizing the election of a long-term chairman. Several MPs discussed giving McHenry additional powers for a limited period of time if the search for McCarthy’s successor dragged on. This is intended to enable legislative work and prevent government business from coming to a standstill in mid-November, known as a “shutdown,” if no new federal budget has been approved by then. However, it remains to be seen whether this idea would actually gain a majority.