House Republicans selected a new candidate for speaker on Friday after days of disarray kicked off by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s historic ouster from the job.
House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, was nominated for the position in a closed-door House GOP conference earlier Friday. Jordan won 124 votes to Rep. Austin Scott’s 81 — an underwhelming show for the race’s frontrunner.
Scott, a member with a comparatively lower profile, jumped into the race minutes before it began.
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After Jordan’s nomination, Republicans launched into a second secret ballot vote, this time gauging support on who will support Jordan on the House floor now that he’s the nominee.
Fifty-five House Republicans said they would vote against Jordan on that vote. He can only afford to lose four Republican votes to still win the speakership.
House lawmakers are now going home for the weekend with a vote for speaker possibly expected on Tuesday, two sources told Fox News Digital. Jordan has said he does not want to launch a House-wide vote until Republicans can huddle together yet again.
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Republicans hastily scheduled a candidate forum to pick their new leader on Friday afternoon after multiple measures aimed at raising the threshold to nominate someone failed.
It’s the second time House Republicans had to pick a candidate in the wake of McCarthy’s ouster. Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., won a majority of 113 votes via secret ballot on Wednesday in the GOP’s first attempt to choose a replacement for McCarthy, R-Calif.
But fast-growing opposition to his bid forced Scalise to drop out of the race on Thursday night.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, had been the expected frontrunner in the race, while Georgia Republican Rep. Austin Scott surprised many — including, it appeared, himself — when he entered the race after Republicans’ closed-door conference meeting earlier on Friday.
“When I woke up this morning, I had no intention of doing this. It took me a long time to even get to my wife to tell, her call our friends, be in prayer, because we’re not — we haven’t done any preparation or any whipping,” Scott told reporters. “But I believe if we as Republicans are going to make the majority, we have to do the right things the right way. And we’re not doing that right now.”