Washington — Rep. Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, who has shown no sign of giving up his bid to be speaker, despite two failed rounds of voting, is holding a news conference at 8 a.m. Friday. There has been no clear evidence so far that he can convert enough of the 22 Republicans who voted against him Wednesday to prevail in the next round of voting, which will take place at 10 a.m. Friday.
That number is far higher than the four GOP votes he can afford to lose if all House lawmakers show up and vote for a candidate.
Jordan said Thursday, “I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race.” But no vote was scheduled that day, though he met with the holdouts late Thursday afternoon. He said he hoped to find a way to “get unified,” “move forward and begin to work for the American people.”
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, Republican of Florida, who voted against Jordan in both rounds, said he hasn’t changed his mind, and it seemed no one else had either.
“We’re still in the same spot,” Gimenez said. “He doesn’t have the votes to be speaker.”
Jordan backed a plan to temporarily expand the power of the interim speaker until early January, but he was forced to reverse course by fellow GOP lawmakers Thursday.
