Holdouts cross Jordan, GOP still in wilderness

Oct 17, 2023

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More than a dozen House Republicans torpedoed Rep. Jim Jordan's (R-Ohio) first bid to secure the speaker's gavel. | Getty Images

Rep. JIM JORDAN’s bid to become speaker is off to the same start as KEVIN McCARTHY’s — failing in the first round.

Right now, the House is taking a roll-call vote to elect a new speaker, and though the final count isn’t yet in hand, at least 14 Republicans voted against Jordan, depriving the Ohio Republican of the requisite 217 votes needed to secure the gavel and officially sinking his first effort.

The “no” votes:

Reps. DON BACON (R-Neb.), CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-Fla.), LORI CHAVEZ-DeREMER (R-Ore.), JEN KIGGANS (R-Va.) and MIKE LAWLER (R-N.Y.) voted for McCarthy.

Reps. MARIO DIAZ-BALART (R-Fla.), TONY GONZALES (R-Texas), MIKE KELLY (R-Pa.) and KAY GRANGER (R-Texas) and JOHN RUTHERFORD (R-Fla.) voted for Rep. STEVE SCALISE (R-La.).

Reps. ANTHONY D’ESPOSITO (R-N.Y.), ANDREW GARBARINO (R-N.Y.) and NICK LaLOTA (R-N.Y.) voted for former Rep. LEE ZELDIN (R-N.Y.).

Rep. JAKE ELLZEY (R-Texas) voted for Rep. MIKE GARCIA (R-Calif.).

The worse news for Jordan … A House member tells our colleague Olivia Beavers: “I personally know 5 will change their votes from yes to no on second round. That’s what they told me. This will get worse.”

Reminder: McCarthy eventually needed 15 ballots to clinch the vote in January after a marathon of wheeling and dealing, which in the end came back to bite him leading to his ouster earlier this month.

But while Jordan’s closest allies said they were prepared for multiple rounds of ballots and projected confidence that they could swing holdouts, “some GOP lawmakers believe he may not have the deep backing to last the 15 ballots it took McCarthy back in January,” Olivia Beavers, Jordain Carney and Sarah Ferris report.

“Multiple House Republicans think if Jordan fails to get the needed votes by the third ballot, the Ohio Republican would start losing more support.”

To that end, Olivia tweets: “Quite a few Scalise allies are voting for Jordan ‘between 1-3 round max before bailing,’ per a GOP source with direct knowledge from one of those Scalise allies supporting Jordan currently.”

House GOP Conference Chair ELISE STEFANIK delivered the nomination speech for Jordan, while House Democratic Caucus Chair PETE AGUILAR gave the speech for Dem leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES. (Notably, Aguilar made sure to tie Jordan to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and a potential government shutdown in his remarks.) Watch Stefanik’s speech … Watch Aguilar’s speech

Follow along with our ace Hill team for all the drama with Inside Congress Live

The view from the other side: While many Dems in the House are bracing for something of a rhetorical rerun to McCarthy’s speakership should Jordan ascend, they also see an opportunity.

“Plenty of them see Jordan’s rise as a potential gift ahead of next year’s election, giving them a fresh chance to depict Republicans as rudderless and dysfunctional — not to mention helping turn the Ohioan into a symbol of Trump-first ultraconservatism, just as the GOP spent years casting former Speaker NANCY PELOSI as a liberal bogeyman,” Nicholas Wu and Ally Mutnick write.

Given Republicans’ four-seat majority, “Democrats are betting that the electorate will understand that one chamber of Congress is shut down, and that the party behind it will get blamed. Putting a pro-Trump hardliner in charge of the House, as they see it, will only help that warning break through in 2024 — particularly against the 18 Republicans who have to defend seats in districts that President JOE BIDEN won.”

The DCCC circulated a memo today that “directed lawmakers to highlight Jordan’s conservatism, declaring that ‘a Speaker Jordan means extremism and far-right priorities will govern the House of Representatives.’”

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CONGRESS

TOO BIG TO FAIL? — The Senate is eyeing a major national security assistance package for key allies of the U.S. as the House continues to sort out its speaker situation. “A bipartisan effort is emerging to send aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, as well as new resources to the Southern border, according to the top negotiators on those issues,” Burgess Everett reports. “Senate Foreign Relations Chair BEN CARDIN (D-Md.) said that a big assistance package ‘makes sense’ provided people can keep out provisions that might sink the bill on partisan terms.” Needless to be said, this package could grow quite large “and it’s not hard to envision the Biden administration's ask nearing $100 billion given some of the previous requests.”

2024 WATCH

DEATH OF THE EARLY STATE — As DONALD TRUMP runs away with the GOP presidential primary, retail politics is becoming something of a dying art in the early states, Natalie Allison and Lisa Kashinsky write. “Operatives and party activists in key early voting states say they can’t recall a recent cycle in which they had such little interaction with candidates.”

“There are the anecdotes: Over the Labor Day weekend, the unofficial start of the fall campaign, not a single candidate stepped foot in Iowa. Several weeks later, the first weekend of autumn passed with zero candidates making a stop in any state.

“And there are the numbers: GOP candidate events in Iowa, the first-in-the-nation caucus state, are down nearly 50 percent this election cycle, compared to the same point in 2015, according to a review of campaign event trackers in early states. In New Hampshire, the first primary state, the candidates’ roster of September events was a fraction of those eight years ago. And hardly anyone is making the trek to Nevada.”

THE DONOR DRAIN — As Trump stretches his advantage over the rest of the GOP presidential field, there is a growing sense among the big-dollar donors that 2024 will see the former president once again atop the party. “The former president’s top competitors — RON DESANTIS, TIM SCOTT, NIKKI HALEY and CHRIS CHRISTIE — landed six- and seven-figure donations earlier in the race. But the 2016 field, which included JEB BUSH, MARCO RUBIO, JOHN KASICH and TED CRUZ, had better buy-in from business leaders, interviews and fundraising records show,” per WSJ’s Julie Bykowicz.

The mood: “‘It’s becoming clear the cavalry’s not coming,’ said KEN SPAIN, a longtime GOP strategist who advises the business interests on Washington. ‘The donor community has come to recognize the strength of Trump and the difficulty in dislodging a major part of the base from him. You’re tilting at windmills if you try.’”

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TRUMP CARDS

HOT DOC — “Read the New Trump Gag Order Limiting His Speech During DC Trial,” by The Messenger’s Darren Samuelsohn

ON TRIAL — DONALD TRUMP was back in court today in Manhattan, attending the proceedings against him in the civil case that targets his business dealings. “After attending the trial’s first three days earlier this month, the Republican front-runner initially planned a return to coincide with testimony by MICHAEL COHEN, his attorney turned foe. But Cohen’s planned appearance on the witness stand was delayed until at least next week,” AP’s Michael Sisak reports.

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

WAR REPORT — Ukraine used long-range ballistic missiles supplied by the U.S. for the first time today, the culmination of a monthslong pressure campaign from Ukraine in requesting the artillery that the U.S. discreetly delivered. “The delivery and use on the battlefield, confirmed by two people familiar with the move, marks a major ramp up of the administration’s defense of Ukraine, for the first time providing Kyiv’s forces with the ability to strike Russian targets far behind the front lines,” our colleagues Lara Seligman, Paul McLeary and Alexander Ward write.

THE LETTER OF THE LAW — A group of bipartisan governors today sent a letter to congressional leaders urging the approval of nominations for key diplomatic roles in Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Oman and Kuwait as well as sustained federal aid to Israel, Nick Reisman reports from Albany, N.Y. “A letter signed by 17 governors and released by New York Gov. KATHY HOCHUL’s office also reiterated plans to work with State Department officials to ensure the safe return of the Americans who have been taken hostage.” Read the letter and see the signatories

THE BIG PICTURE — “War in the Middle East Challenges Biden’s Defense Strategy,” by WSJ’s Gordon Lubold, Nancy Youssef and Michael Gordon: “Though the recent U.S. deployments of naval assets, fighter squadrons — and potentially support troops — are intended to be temporary, the crisis that triggered them doesn’t appear to be short-term. That conflict could force the U.S. to rethink how it uses its military in the Middle East and poses a test for how the Pentagon can continue to support Ukraine and keep its focus on China, which the Defense Department has dubbed its top longer-term priority, as the new flashpoint erupts.”

TOP-ED — DAVID PETRAEUS and ANDREW ROBERTS write for POLITICO Magazine: “We’ve Studied All Wars Since World War II. Here’s Some Advice for Netanyahu”

FOR YOUR RADAR — “U.S. Tightens China’s Access to Advanced Chips for Artificial Intelligence,” by NYT’s Ana Swanson: “The rules appear likely to bring to a halt most shipments of advanced semiconductors from the United States to Chinese data centers, which use them to produce models capable of artificial intelligence. More U.S. companies seeking to sell China advanced chips, or the machinery used to make them, will be required to notify the government of their plans, or obtain a special license.”

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POLICY CORNER

THE NOT-SO-FEW, THE PROUD — “U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force Struggle for Recruits. The Marines Have Plenty,” by NYT’s Dave Philipps: “It’s more than a little mystifying to the other service branches, because the Marine Corps — a quick-reaction force made up of light, highly mobile infantry, armor and supporting attack aircraft — is not so different from the rest of the military. Except in its rabid insistence that it is. But mystifying or not, the message is working.”

MEGATREND — “The U.S. Gets a C+ in Retirement,” by WSJ’s Oyin Adedoyin: “The U.S. came in 22nd out of 47 countries, according to the latest Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index, released Tuesday, with a slightly lower score than a year ago.”

BLANK SPACE — “SpaceX to the FAA: The industry needs you to move faster,” by WaPo’s Christian Davenport: “SpaceX so far this year has launched its rockets more than 70 times, about one every four days, an unprecedented rate that has upended the industry. But as the company continues to dramatically increase that flight rate, and with its massive Starship rocket ready for another test flight, company officials say they are concerned that the government is not keeping up and is stifling NASA’s ability to return astronauts to the moon.”

MEDIAWATCH

TUCK EVERLASTING — “Tucker Carlson’s Media Company Secures Investment Led by New ‘Anti-Woke’ Firm 1789 Capital,” by WSJ’s Keach Hagey: “The goal of 1789, which is named for the year the Bill of Rights was written, is to get Carlson and Patel’s company to the point of showing a proof of concept for its online video-driven business model, so the pair can continue raising the hundreds of millions of dollars they are eventually targeting, people familiar with the matter said.”

PLAYBOOKERS

TRANSITIONS — Jane Kamensky will be president at Monticello, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation announced. She currently is a professor and the Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Director of the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard Radcliffe Institute. … Ashlyn Roberts is joining the National Venture Capital Association as senior director. She previously was director of government and public affairs at Prism Group.

ENGAGED — Josie Martinez, an associate at The Frost Group, and Will Hall, an architect at NK Architects, got engaged on Saturday at Oak Bridge in Central Park. The two met at NJIT/Seton Hall and reconnected during Covid long-distance while Josie was working for Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.).

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