House Republicans Ditch Plan To Empower McHenry, Prepare For Third Speaker Vote

 House Republicans have rejected a plan to give temporarily broader powers to interim Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-NC).

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the GOP nominee, came out of a GOP conference meeting on Thursday and announced that he expected the House to move to another speaker ballot.

“We made the pitch to members on the resolution as a way to lower the temperature and get back to work. We decided that wasn’t where we’re going to go,” Jordan told reporters.

“I’m still running for speaker, and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race, but I want to go talk with a few of my colleagues,” he added.

Jordan said he specifically wanted to have conversations with the 20 or so GOP members who have opposed his candidacy. The Ohio Republican has lost two ballots this week so far, failing to secure 217 votes or a simple majority. At least one holdout, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), reportedly said he told Jordan he will not “ever” vote for him.

McHenry has been serving as speaker pro tempore for a little over two weeks after the House took the unprecedented step of voting Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) out as speaker.

There has been doubt about whether an acting speaker can do more than preside over debate and vote for a full-time speaker without a vote on a resolution to empower him.

 

Some Republicans raised concerns about the proposal being problematic and warned it would require a bipartisan vote with concessions to the Democrats to pass.

“The people across #NY21 and America can rest assured that I strongly oppose any attempt to create a Democrat backed coalition government,” House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said in a post to X. “I will vote to support Jim Jordan for Speaker on the House Floor. We must work to unify Republicans as the last line of defense to save America.”

Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) reportedly said he will tweak the resolution to give McHenry temporary expanded powers in an attempt to get more support within the GOP conference.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the nominee for the Democrats, has so far signaled that his first objective is to “stop” Jordan and second goal is to reopen the House.