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Rep. Jim Jordan was able to shore up support from several Republican skeptics amid his bid for the House speaker position following the ousting of Kevin McCarthy.
Rep. Jim Jordan won over some GOP skeptics amid his bid for the House Speaker position after the ousting of Kevin McCarthy.
The development allows the Republican lawmaker to bolster momentum for his efforts ahead of Tuesday's planned floor vote for the House Speaker.
On Monday, House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers and House Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert announced they would support Jordan on the House floor.
Jim Jordan Shores Up Support
The two individuals are key defense hawks and are seen as the most weary of Jordan within the GOP bloc. Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri, who previously called the speaker candidate a "non-starter" for the position last week, said on Monday that she would support the Ohio lawmaker. Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida, another previous holdout, also announced the same.
In a statement, Wagner said that he spoke with Jordan at length, which eased his concerns about keeping the government open with conservative funding, the need for strong border security, the need for consistent international support in times of war and unrest, and the need for stronger protections against human trafficking and child exploitation, as per CNN.
However, even though Jordan now has support from more Republican colleagues, he still faces an uphill battle to be elected as House speaker. He can afford to lose only four Republicans on the floor if every member votes because a speaker needs a majority of the full House to be elected into the position.
Heading into a GOP conference meeting on Monday evening, several Republicans, including Reps, voiced their opposition to Jordan. Don Bacon, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Ken Buck. In a statement, Jordan said that he would go to the floor for a speaker vote on Tuesday whether or not he had the votes locked down.
On Monday evening, Jordan was asked whether or not he had the votes he needed to be elected as House speaker, and he replied, "I hope so. I think so." If the Republican can secure enough votes to become speaker on Tuesday, it would end the chaos in the House following the unprecedented ousting of McCarthy.
House Speakership
As Jordan's internal campaign gained momentum on Monday, Washington's thousands of lobbyists tried to determine how his speakership could impact their clients' bottom lines. According to CNBC, a veteran tech lobbyist said that a Jordan speakership would make it nearly impossible to move any sensible bipartisan legislation to curb big tech's power abuse.
In the two weeks that the House has not had a speaker, lawmakers have been unable to pass legislation despite the international crises and government shutdown being one month away. However, some members have explored giving interim Speaker Patrick McHenry more power, appointed to fill in McCarthy's position temporarily.
During the initial closed-door vote held on Friday last week, Jordan only won 124 Republican votes out of 221, which falls far from the 217 votes needed to secure the position. On the secret ballot, 55 House Republicans voted against Jordan, vowing that they would never support the Republican, said Yahoo News.
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