US lawmakers rejected hard-line conservative Jim Jordan's bid for speaker of the House of Representatives for a second time on Wednesday, as the leadership vacuum paralyzed Washington for a 15th day with no clear resolution in sight.
The lower chamber of Congress has been in a tailspin since Republican speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted by his party's far right on October 3 -- leaving it unable to address a looming government shutdown or war in the Middle East.
But Jordan's centrist colleagues, already wary of his hard-right politics, voiced irritation over a concerted effort to whip extra votes for the 59-year-old former wrestling champion. Jordan's second defeat compounded the angst over Republican disarray, prompting a growing group of lawmakers -- including Valadao -- to push for the limited powers of the current, largely ceremonial caretaker speaker to be expanded.
His Republican opponents met after voting against him for the first time Tuesday and nearly all reaffirmed their objections, with some predicting Jordan would only hemorrhage more support. "Why run for the mayor of a city that's just been nuked?" asked online politics outlet Punchbowl News.
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