House Fails To Pick New Speaker As Jim Jordan Fails To Get 217 Votes

Rep. Jim Jordan failed again to win enough votes to become Speaker of the House on Wednesday (October 18). This time, 22 Republicans voted against Jordan, which was more than Tuesday, when 20 Republicans voted for somebody else.

The final vote was 199 for Jordan, 212 for Jefferies, and 22 votes for other candidates. To win the Speakership, a candidate must get 217 votes.

The House of Representatives has been without a Speaker for over two weeks after a small group of hard-line conservative lawmakers led by Rep. Matt Gaetz pushed through a motion to vacate against Kevin McCarthy.

Before the vote, Jordan told reporters that the House has to make a decision on who will lead the body today. He suggested that in addition to a vote on a new Speaker, the House should also take up a resolution to give speaker pro tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry, the power to conduct business in the House.

"Look, I think we got to decide today. Are we going to have a Republican speaker, or is the body going to adopt this resolution with the speaker pro tempore?" Jordan said.

"I think both questions should be called," Jordan said. "Let's get an answer. We've been at this two weeks. The American people deserve to have their government functioning."

However, after losing the vote, Jordan met with McHenry to discuss a possible path forward. He told reporters that the House will reconvene on Thursday and hold another vote at 12 p.m. ET.