Jim Jordan Staying In Speaker Race After Losing On Second Ballot

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) failed a second time on Wednesday to secure enough GOP House member votes to become speaker of the House.

Jordan, a hard right flamethrower, lost 20 Republicans on Tuesday and lost 22 of his GOP colleagues during Wednesday’s vote, which he had called for. Jordan has vowed to continued fighting for the job.

“We’ve got to decide today,” Jordan told reporters ahead of the vote. He also called on the House to vote on empowering interim Speaker Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) with the ability to run the House until a speaker is elected.

“Both questions should be called. Let’s get an answer. We’ve been at this two weeks. The American people deserve to have their government functioning,” Jordan added, noting the paralysis in the House at a time of global turmoil.

“We want a bipartisan path forward. That does not involve Jim Jordan, who is a poster child for Republican extremism and a danger to our democracy,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said on Tuesday as speculation that Democrats would back empowering McHenry grew.

Given the GOP’s slim House majority, Jordan and any other nominee for speaker can afford to only lose 4 GOP votes if all House members vote and all Democrats vote for Jeffries.

Watch the full clip above.