Consider This from NPR - With Jim Jordan Out, What Does The Latest Failed Speaker Bid Mean For Republicans?

Episode Date: October 20, 2023

Ever since Kevin McCarthy was ousted as Speaker of the House by only eight members of Congress, things have been pretty messy in the chamber. Ohio Republican Jim Jordan tried and failed to rally support for his nomination. After losing three ballots on the House floor and a secret Republican-only vote, he's out. Not having a speaker has essentially shut down the business of governing, and House Republicans have no consensus on a candidate. Host Scott Detrow speaks with NPR's Congressional Correspondent Deirdre Walsh and Political Correspondent Susan Davis about the ongoing speaker battle and what comes next. Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Ever since Kevin McCarthy was ousted as Speaker of the House by just eight members of Congress, things have been pretty messy in the chamber. Republicans keep kneecapping their own candidates for Speaker, and the House is paralyzed. Many members of the caucus aren't happy. Here's Nebraska Republican Don Bacon expressing that to a CNN reporter. It hurts the country. It hurts Congress. It's hurting our party. They're putting us in a bad hole for next November. Does it put a swing district like yours at risk?

Yeah, it does. These guys want to be in the minority. I think they would prefer that because they can just vote no and yell and scream all the time. The anger and frustration is because none of the candidates nominated for speaker have gotten enough votes. The latest one, Jim Jordan, is out after three strikes, three losing ballots on the House floor. No person having received a majority of the whole number of votes cast by surname. A speaker has not been elected. Pursuant to Clause 12A of Rule 1, the chair declares the House in recess, subject to the call of the chair. After that third round of votes, Jordan lost a secret Republican-only vote to remain his party's nominee for speaker. And this party divisiveness, especially ahead of an election, is not a good look for the Republican Party.

In a speech at Georgetown University on Tuesday, Utah Senator Mitt Romney said the impasse, along with the initial ouster of McCarthy earlier this month, is proof that shaking things up is not the same as getting things done. You have people increasingly coming to Washington whose objective is to make noise, not to make law. You know, it's interesting. Here's a guy who wants to be the Speaker of the House. Do you know how many bills he's passed that he's authored? None. How does a democracy work when the people that are most well-known are those that aren't accomplishing things but instead are performing? Romney recently decided to walk away from Congress rather than run for another term in the Senate.

Not having a speaker has pretty much shut down the business of governing. And the failure of Republicans in the House to band together enough to give any speaker candidate a majority of the votes, it's making a lot of people nervous about just where the party is heading. Consider this. Jim Jordan is only the latest candidate to fail at his bid for Speaker. What does all the infighting mean for the Republican Party's ability to govern. From NPR, I'm Scott Detrow. It's Friday, October 20th. It's Consider This from NPR. House Republicans have ousted a speaker, rejected two potential new speakers, and have no consensus candidate. As of Friday afternoon, it's not clear what comes

next. Earlier today, Ohio Republican Jim Jordan tried and failed to rally support for his nomination. On a third ballot, his opposition grew to 25 Republican votes against him. Republicans then met behind closed doors and took secret ballots to see if lawmakers wanted Jordan to stay in the race. They did not, and Jordan dropped out. But it's important we do unite. Let's figure out who that individual is, get behind him and get to work for the American people. Deposed former speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters there's no clear path forward. We are in a very bad position as a party. To talk more about this very bad position Republicans find themselves in, we are joined by

NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh and political correspondent Susan Davis. Hey there. Hey there. Hey, Scott. So Deirdre, I'll start with you. Jordan, hugely popular with the conservative base. He had Donald Trump's support. Why couldn't he close the deal with his own party? Jordan's own legislative record and his tactics really alienated a significant block of House Republicans. Jordan is one of the sort of most conservative, far right members of the House Republican most conservative far-right members of the House Republican Conference, and he's really earned this reputation as somebody who tries to blow up deals. And he's opposed spending deals to avoid shutdowns. He's voted against bipartisan farm bills, emergency aid bills. And many House Republicans were skeptical that Jim Jordan

was going to be the speaker who would be able to navigate this big negotiation in less than a month to avoid another shutdown. But I think the thing that really angered many of his colleagues over recent days is really just the aggressive tactics his allies in the House and in right-wing media used to try to coerce colleagues to vote for him. And this really expanded the opposition to him. You know, members were getting death threats, a lot of social media messages targeting them. Jordan condemned that, but many think he just didn't do enough to stop it. Okay, so Kevin McCarthy is booted from the speakership.

Majority leader Steve Scalise is put forward by the party. He doesn't have enough votes. He pulls out. Jim Jordan now loses three ballots on the floor. He pulls out. Are there any members of the House Republican Conference with a feasible path right now to the speakership? I mean, that's the million dollar question if anyone can get the 217 votes needed. Already, at least a half dozen or more House Republicans are running or making calls to be the next speaker. Some of the names include the current GOP whip Tom Emmer from Minnesota, Oklahoma Republican Kevin Hearn, who runs a large group of fiscal conservatives, Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson, and there's some other names. I mean,

members coming out of the meeting this afternoon expected a lot of people to run. One House Republican already said the next 48 hours will be like drinking from a fire hose with all the people running and all the calls they're going to be getting. Sue, over to you. Part of this is a math problem, right? Republicans just have this narrow majority that can only lose a few votes to advance anything in the House. But it seems like there's something else going on here. It seems like there is a deeper fracturing of the party. Yeah, I mean, Kevin McCarthy told reporters after Jordan dropped out today that he's concerned about where the party can go from here.

Jordan represents this wing of the party that was once seen as sort of fringe and is now much more mainstream inside the conference. And they've been empowered by people like McCarthy when he was speaker. And there's a real clash between these more revolutionary Republicans. They want to reshape the party. They want to reshape the country. And they are clashing with what I would describe as the governing wing of the party. Jordan's chief distractors came from Appropriations Committee, Armed Services Committee, people who tend to produce big bipartisan bills. A lot of the people who voted against Jordan voted to certify the 2020 election, which he did not do. These are lawmakers who accept the reality of divided government and that Democrats will be needed to do things like pass these foreign aid bills and

keep the government open. And the revolutionary wing, they just want to resist it all. Lawmakers like Chip Roy of Texas see the governing wing of the party as being part of the very swamp they're trying to change. So these factions can absolutely coexist within a party, but it's much easier when you have a big majority. And right now there there's just no real room for error. And they're landed in a very ungovernable place. 17 days now without a Speaker of the House with the House totally paralyzed. And meanwhile, soon, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries continues to offer Democratic votes if, and a big if, Republicans would agree to bring legislation with bipartisan support to the floor. Republicans have rejected that offer at a certain point.

Might they have to consider it? You know, never say never, but Republicans met behind closed doors and debated this for hours yesterday, and there was pretty fierce opposition to it. They think it just looks like they would be handing over their majority to Democrats. It still seems like the absolute last option, and they're not there yet. I would note that the next hard deadline Congress faces is November 17th. That's when the government shuts down. Hopefully they can resolve the speaker fight before then. But that is the next real pressure point on Capitol Hill. Deirdre, as best as you can tell in this messy moment, what happens next? Well, House Republicans have until Sunday noon to declare if they're going to run for speaker. There's a candidate forum Monday night. House Republicans will vote Tuesday morning for their own nominee. It's unclear whether that will go to the floor right away. But we're into three

weeks with the House with no Speaker and no ability to function, and many really want to move on right now. That's NPR's Deirdre Walsh and Susan Davis. Thanks to both of you. You're welcome. Thanks, Scott. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow.