The US House of Representatives – where the Speaker's seat has remained vacant for the past 17 days – has plunged deeper into chaos after the second round of bipartisan voting failed to elect a leader while the contingency plan collapsed.
Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, a hardline conservative and loyal ally of former President Donald Trump, has declared he will continue his efforts to win the Speaker's gavel after two previous failures to secure the necessary 217 votes.
A spokesperson for Mr. Jordan said that the US House of Representatives will hold its third round of voting at 10:00 AM local time (9:00 PM Vietnam time) on October 20th.
"I am still running for president and I intend to continue speaking out to get votes and win this race," Jordan told reporters on October 19.
Earlier in the day, Jordan had considered dropping out of the race and instead supporting a new bipartisan proposal to extend the powers of interim President Patrick McHenry until January of next year.
But this contingency plan collapsed when a group of far-right conservative lawmakers objected. They called the plan "ridiculous" and argued that it would put control of the U.S. House of Representatives into the hands of the Democratic Party.
From left: Jim Jordan - Republican candidate for Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy - former Speaker (impeached), and Patrick McHenry - interim Speaker. Photo: Washington Post.
The US House of Representatives has been deadlocked since October 3rd, when a small group of far-right Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy from his position as Speaker.
The leadership vacuum in Congress has prevented the U.S. Congress from acting on urgent legislative matters, including responding to the latest conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, providing aid to Ukraine, and averting a potential partial government shutdown in less than a month.
Democratic President Joe Biden, in a speech on October 19, announced he would ask Congress to approve up to $60 billion in aid for Ukraine and $10 billion for Israel. Nothing will be done until the US House of Representatives can restore order with a permanent Speaker.
The protracted leadership battle has created a clear divide between Republicans in the House of Representatives, where they hold a narrow margin over the Democrats: 221-212.
On the afternoon of October 19th, Mr. Jordan attempted once again to meet privately with some of the 22 members of the House of Representatives who voted against him, but apparently without success.
“We all told him that we firmly disagreed. It was a discussion. Now he knows how to make a decision,” Congressman Vern Buchanan told reporters after the meeting, suggesting that Jordan should drop out of the race.
The votes were counted at the end of the second election in which Representative Jim Jordan, the Republican candidate for Speaker of the House, lost, on October 18, 2023. Photo: Washington Post
Representative Mike Lawler, who firmly refused to vote for Jordan, called for a Republican convention to reinstate McCarthy or empower McHenry.
“We have to demonstrate to the American people that we can govern effectively and responsibly, otherwise, in 15 months, we’ll be debating who the minority leader is and preparing for Biden’s second inauguration,” Lawler said, referring to the scenario where the Republican Party in the House becomes the minority and Biden is re-elected in the presidential and congressional elections next November.
On October 19, Representative Troy E. Nehls once again suggested that Republicans should appoint former President Donald Trump as Speaker of the House for 100 days to “fix this place.”
“I think Donald Trump can do the impossible and make it happen,” said Nehls, who has been promoting the idea for some time, noting that they would have to change the Republican convention rule that prevents those accused of crimes from becoming Speaker of the House. Trump is facing 91 felony charges in four criminal cases .
Minh Duc (Based on The Guardian, Reuters, Washington Times)
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