An onslaught of pressure from the Republican Party base was intended to prod the GOP’s moderate and establishment members to support Rep. Jim Jordan for House speaker. But as the pressure campaign escalated this week into death threats, something unexpected happened. A hodgepodge coalition of roughly 20 House Republicans opposed his bid.
Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., left, and Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., right, arrive for the Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee leaves the Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., left, and Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., right, arrive for the Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. Rep.
Still, they vowed Thursday to not back down as Jordan tried for a third day to win the 217 Republican votes he needs to become speaker.more than two weeks ago. Hopelessly divided, Republicans have been arguing for weeks over how to mend their fractured majority. The death threats have only worsened the tension, with lawmakers feeling their colleagues are partially to blame for the outpouring of bile.
As Republicans choose their next speaker, however, the just-say-no tactic is coming from new corners of the Republican conference: moderate GOP lawmakers who represent politically purple congressional districts, senior members of the House Appropriations Committee, and loyalists to GOP leadership figures like McCarthy and Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
Meanwhile, Jordan tried to win over more moderate Republicans by casting himself as a unifier who would listen to their concerns. He told his fellow Republicans he would not take the speaker vote to the House floor unless he had secured 217 of their votes. “As soon as you try to influence by getting outside groups to try to intimidate, in that nanosecond, it’s over,” said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a senior Republican on the Appropriations Committee who helped lead the opposition to Jordan.
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