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| Do nothing rape apologist lawmaker fails to be House Speaker. How many more rounds? |
Democrats stood in unity as they endorsed Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for House Speaker. A New York lawmaker who will endorse genocide against the Palestinians.
Republicans on the other hand failed to coalesce around a candidate. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) did not secure enough votes to be House Speaker. An Ohio lawmaker who endorses conspiracy theories, election denialism, insurrection, genocide against the Palestinians, genocide against the Ukrainians, targeted hate against Muslims, Jews, immigrants, LGBTQ and people of color.
Jordan, a relatively worthless insufferable idiot wants to be Speaker of the House.
It appears 20 Republicans said "Hell Ho" to that!
Again, President Joe Biden let me down. I will not back his reelection bid. He continues to endorse the status quo. The president believes state propaganda peddled by Israel in it's one sided war against Hamas. They are proceeding a Nakba, an ethnic cleansing of those living in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) has withheld her support for Biden.
Jordan, a peddler of this noise about Hunter Biden failed to secure votes to be House Speaker. On top of that, Fox will not punish Sean "Softball" Hannity for once again violating their ethics. The annoying far right agitator has pushed for Jordan and tried to pressure Republicans.
Having lost the first vote to become House speaker, Jordan will try again on a decisive second ballot that will test whether the hard-edged ally of Washed Up 45 can win over the holdouts or if his bid for the gavel is collapsing, denied by detractors.
Ahead of Wednesday morning’s voting, Jordan made an unexpected plea for party unity, the combative Judiciary Committee chairman telling his colleagues on social media, “we must stop attacking each other and come together.”
But a surprisingly large and politically diverse group of 20 Republicans rejected Jordan’s nomination, many resisting the hardball tactics enforcing support, and viewing the Ohio congressman as too extreme for the powerful position of House speaker, second in line to the presidency.
Additional voting Tuesday was postponed as the House hit a standstill, stuck while Jordan worked to shore up backing from Republican colleagues for the job to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy.
“We’re going to keep working,” Jordan said late Tuesday at the Capitol.
It’s been two weeks of angry Republican infighting since McCarthy’s sudden removal by hard-liners, who are now within reach of a central seat of U.S. power. The vote for House speaker, once a formality in Congress, has devolved into another bitter showdown for the gavel.
The tally, with 200 Republicans voting for Jordan and 212 for the Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, left no candidate with a clear majority, as the 20 Republicans voted for someone else. With Republicans in majority control 221-212, Jordan must pick up most of his GOP foes to win.
Jeffries swiftly intervened, declaring it was time for Republicans to partner with Democrats to reopen the House — in what would be an extraordinary if not unprecedented moment in congressional history.
Bipartisan groups of lawmakers have been floating ways to operate the House by giving greater power to the interim speaker, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), or another temporary speaker. The House had never ousted its speaker before McCarthy, and the lawmakers are in rarely tested terrain.
“The Republicans are unable to function right now,” said Jeffries. He said talks would “accelerate” between Democrats and Republicans on alternative plans.
Late Tuesday, the novel concept was gaining favor with a pair of surprising high-profile Republicans: Newt Gingrich, the former Republican speaker, said while he likes Jordan, he has “no faith” the nominee can get much beyond the 200 votes he won in the first vote.
“We can’t sit around and suck our thumbs and hope the world will wait until the House Republicans get their act together,” Gingrich told Fox’s "Softball" Hannity on his show.
John Boehner, another former GOP speaker, reposted Gingrich’s views saying, “I agree,” on social media.
The two men have deep experience with the subject. Both were chased to early retirement by threats of ouster from right-flank insurgents like those who toppled McCarthy.
But with public pressure bearing down on lawmakers from Washed Up 45's allies, including that annoying agitator, it’s unclear how long the holdouts against Jordan can last. Already, some lawmakers said their first vote was merely a protest, and they would be with Jordan on next rounds.
“Jim Jordan will be a great speaker,” the former president said outside a courthouse in Manhattan, where he is facing business fraud charges. “I think he’s going to have the votes soon, if not today, over the next day or two.”
Flexing their independence, the holdouts are a mix of pragmatists — ranging from seasoned legislators and committee chairs worried about governing, to newer lawmakers from districts where voters back home prefer President Joe Biden to Washed Up 45.
Some Republicans resent being pressured by Jordan’s allies and say they are being threatened with primary opponents if they don’t support him as speaker. Others are simply upset at the way the whole process has dragged out.
As Tuesday’s somber roll call was underway, each lawmaker announcing their choice, the holdouts quickly surfaced.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a leader of the centrists, voted for McCarthy, the ousted former speaker. Murmurs rippled through the chamber. Others voted for Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who was the party’s first nominee to replace McCarthy before he, too, was rejected by hardliners last week.
One, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), a veteran appropriator, said later that he would not be “pressured or intimidated” over his vote. “That millisecond when anybody tries to intimidate me is the moment where I no longer have the flexibility.”
Another holdout, Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, said Jordan’s role in the runup to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and his refusal to admit that Biden, a Democrat, won the 2020 election remained an issue.
Jordan has been a top Washed Up 45 ally, particularly during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack by the former president’s backers who were trying to overturn the 2020 election he lost to Biden. Days later, the former president awarded Jordan a Medal of Freedom.
The political climb has been steep for Jordan, the combative Judiciary Committee chairman and a founding member of the right-flank Freedom Caucus. He is known more as a chaos agent than a skilled legislator, raising questions about how he would lead. Congress faces daunting challenges, risking a federal shutdown at home if it fails to fund the government and fielding Biden’s requests for aid to help Ukraine and Israel in the wars abroad.
Immediately after the vote, Jordan conferred with McCarthy, who fared nearly as badly in January, having lost almost as many votes on the first of what would become a historic 15 ballots for the gavel.
First elected in 2006, Jordan has few bills to his name from his time in office. He also faces questions about his past. Some years ago, Jordan denied allegations from former wrestlers during his time as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University who accused him of knowing about claims they were inappropriately groped by an Ohio doctor. Jordan has said he was never aware of any abuse.
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