Will Jordan’s shot slip away?

An evening recap of the action on Capitol Hill and preview of the day ahead

Oct 13, 2023 View in browser   By Daniella Diaz With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team It would be hard to understate the frustration and resentment among House Republicans right now – at the end of a week that broke their conference’s chaos meter. | Francis Chung/POLITICO HE DOESN’T HAVE THE VOTES … YET Jim Jordan wants to be the next speaker. But like Steve Scalise (and Kevin McCarthy) before him, the Ohio Republican is still far short of a majority on the floor. It would be hard to understate the frustration and resentment among House Republicans right now – at the end of a week that broke their conference’s chaos meter. GOP leadership sent members home for the weekend with plans to reassess on Monday after Jordan beat Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) with 124 votes, then picked up less than 30 more votes when Republicans were pressed whether they’d support him on the floor. Let us state it plainly: That’s not great. Scott jumped in without a lick of campaigning and got more than 80 supporters. Even when the choice was Jordan or no one on the floor, the ultraconservative Ohioan remained more than five dozen votes short. Of course, secret ballots are easy to stand strong on – it’s another thing to stand up on the floor to oppose Jordan, particularly when our Olivia Beavers reported that his allies in and out of the Freedom Caucus are putting serious pressure on holdouts. But generally speaking, Jordan has a “big hill,” to quote former Speaker McCarthy’s words about Scalise’s doomed bid. Jordan “should be afforded 24 hours or the weekend or whatever … to see if he can get the votes and if he can’t get the votes, roll on,” Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) told reporters after the vote. The eventual speaker, he added, “may be somebody who is tolerable for everybody.” Jordan, who told reporters he felt “good” after the vote, is expected to meet with holdouts as well as his backers over the weekend ahead of a potential Monday meeting to revisit whether he has enough support for a floor vote. “I’ve been working it for 10 days,” Jordan added. “We’ll keep up. … We want to go to the floor as soon as possible, but we’re missing like eight members who aren’t in town. So we’ve got to wait for them to get back … I think we’re going to get 217.” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a Jordan ally, said he expects a floor vote next week so that members can lay out where they stand before finally supporting a speaker. Massie projected that “we go to the floor” when Jordan has closer to 180 votes.”Which isn't to 217 yet, but I believe what's going to happen is – people in the first round may vote for McCarthy, they may vote for Scalise, Donald Trump may get a vote,” Massie said. “But after everybody gets that out of their system, you know, fulfills their commitments … by the second or third round, I think we're going to be over 200." That assumes, of course, that more time helps Jordan. The longer Scalise’s victory sat without the support it needed, the worse it got for his speakership hopes. Here’s a fun thought experiment: How exactly would a Speaker Jordan work with a Majority Leader Scalise (R-La.) after the tense events of the past week? Bigger-picture reminder: Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) doesn’t have the power to move bills on the floor. But some Democrats, privately and publicly, are floating ideas to empower McHenry so that – at least for a short amount of time – the House can move must-pass legislation like government funding and aid to Israel. That could mean interpreting the House rules differently to empower McHenry now, or moving a privileged resolution on the floor to make him temporary speaker with powers for a certain amount of time. But if Democrats help achieve that, they have made clear it wouldn’t be for free. Speaking of Dems… keep on reading. — Daniella Diaz, with assists from Katherine Tully-McManus, Jennifer Scholtes and Anthony Adragna   GROWING IN THE GOLDEN STATE: POLITICO California is growing, reinforcing our role as the indispensable insider source for reporting on politics, policy and power. From the corridors of power in Sacramento and Los Angeles to the players and innovation hubs in Silicon Valley, we're your go-to for navigating the political landscape across the state. Exclusive scoops, essential daily newsletters, unmatched policy reporting and insights — POLITICO California is your key to unlocking Golden State politics. LEARN MORE.     GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Friday, Oct. 13, where your Huddle host is listening to Bad Bunny’s new album (it’s good). THE VIEW FROM DEMOCRATS House Democrats, for the most part, are content to let their adversaries flail and marvel at the resulting theatrics. “That’s embarrassing,” one senior Democratic member said after seeing Jordan’s first vote total, having been granted anonymity to throw some candid shade. While Republicans gathered for yet another speaker vote on Friday, curious Democratic staffers and lawmakers emerged from their offices to walk past the crowds of reporters ringing the Longworth room where the GOP convened. But by the end of the day, Democratic leaders chose to use the moment to draw a contrast with their opponents. Top Democrats held a press conference on the House steps with most of the caucus present to hear Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) declare: “We want to find a bipartisan path to reopening the House of Representatives, so we can solve problems for the American people, and stand with our friends like Israel and Ukraine, and others throughout the free world.” Top Democrats also hinted that they might to subject their longtime nemesis Jordan to the type of villainization campaign that the GOP launched against Nancy Pelosi, should he win the speakership. “Every Republican who casts their vote for him is siding with an insurrectionist against our democracy,” Minority Whip Katherine Clark said Friday evening. — Nicholas Wu AND THE S–TPOSTING AWARD GOES TO… Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) has been on a roll on X, formerly known as Twitter. He hasn’t missed an opportunity to post snarky observations about his Republican colleagues’ struggles to pick a speake. At times he’s made clear he hasn’t been participating in the votes. Some of his posts: Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C, Exhibit D and lastly… our favorite. When asked to comment on the tweets, his spokesperson told Huddle in a statement: “The tweets speak for themselves!” Congressman, we are right there with you. — Daniella Diaz  HUDDLE HOTDISH Embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) said he was accosted by protestors in the hallways where the GOP conference met to elect a speaker. It was a scene, to say the least. QUICK LINKS  Chuck Schumer will lead a bipartisan trip to Israel this weekend, from Anthony Adragna TRANSITIONS  Emily Carlin is now the director of public relations for the American Gas Association. She was previously the communications director and a senior adviser for Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) TOMORROW IN CONGRESS The House is out. (But Jordan’s camp is making calls.) The Senate is out.   GO INSIDE THE CAPITOL DOME: From the outset, POLITICO has been your eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, providing the most thorough Congress coverage — from political characters and emerging leaders to leadership squabbles and policy nuggets during committee markups and hearings. We're stepping up our game to ensure you’re fully informed on every key detail inside the Capitol Dome, all day, every day. Start your day with Playbook AM, refuel at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report and enrich your evening discussions with Huddle. Plus, stay updated with real-time buzz all day through our brand new Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here.     SATURDAY AROUND THE HILL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ TRIVIA THURSDAY’S ANSWER: Gonzalo Begines Galisteo correctly answered that Steve Largent is the Hall of Famer who retired as the NFL's all-time record holder for receptions, yards, and touchdowns before he served in the U.S. House. TODAY’S QUESTION from Gonzalo: Who was the first Hispanic American to serve in both the U.S. House and Senate? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to huddletrivia@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each evening. Follow Daniella on X at @DaniellaMicaela.   Follow us

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