WASHINGTON (AP) — Refusing to drop out, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan told GOP colleagues Thursday he would back a temporary U.S. House speaker for the next several months as he works to shore up support to win the gavel himself.
Jordan delivered the message at a closed door meeting at the Capitol as the Republican majority considered an extraordinary plan to give the interim Speaker Pro-tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry more powers to reopen the House and conduct crucial business until January.
That’s according to Republicans who attended the private meeting and insisted on anonymity to discuss it.
The House was convening at midday Thursday, but it’s doubtful now that Jordan will immediately try again to win a vote to become speaker. The hard-fighting ally of Donald Trump has been unable to win, but he and his far-right allies won’t step aside for a more viable GOP nominee.
At the same time, there is a sinking realization that the House could remain endlessly stuck, out of service and without a leader for the foreseeable future as the Republican majority spirals deeper into dysfunction. The impasse has left some Republican lawmakers settling in for a protracted stretch.
McHenry has brushed off attempts to take the job more permanently after he was appointed to the role after the unprecedented ouster of Kevin McCarthy more than two weeks ago.
“I did not ask for additional powers,” McHenry said as he entered the morning session. “My duty is to get the next speaker elected. That’s my focus.”
Elevating McHenry to an expanded speaker’s role would not be as politically simple as it might seem. While Democrats have suggested the arrangement, Republicans are loathe to partner with the Democrats in a bipartisan way.
And it’s highly unlikely Republicans could vote to give McHenry more powers on their own, even though they have majority control of the House. The affable North Carolina Republican is well-liked by his colleagues and viewed as a highly competent legislator, but the hard-right lawmakers including some who ousted McCarthy, don’t like the idea.
“Asinine,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a leader of far-right House Freedom Caucus.
“It’s a bad precedent and I don’t support it,” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., the Freedom Caucus chairman.
Still, installing a temporary speaker for the next few months is backed by many of Jordan’s opponents and would give him an offramp so he would not have to declare defeat.
Next steps were highly uncertain Thursday as angry, frustrated Republicans looked at other options. Some predict the House could stay essentially shuttered, as it has been almost all month, until the mid-November deadline for Congress to approve funding or risk a federal government shutdown.
“I think clearly Nov. 17 is a real date,” said Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., who leads a large conservative caucus, referring to the next deadline
What was clear was that Jordan’s path to become House speaker was almost certainly lost.
