The House of Representatives adjourned Wednesday, once again still not electing a Speaker after a sixth vote on the speakership.
On Tuesday, Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) once again failed to emerge victorious. He even lost support on the third ballot, with 20 Republican defections, up from 19 in previous votes. The representative who modified his vote during the third ballot was freshman congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL).
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) put forth a nomination for Donalds Wednesday.
“There’s an important reason for nominating Byron, and that is this country needs leadership that does not represent this city, this town, that is badly broken,” Roy stated.
Numerous alternative candidates for the first ballot were nominated by Anti-McCarthy Republicans before they agreed to support Rep. Jim Jordan, (R-OH), who has continued to back McCarthy.
Jordan especially received encouragement from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who nominated the Ohio representative during a fiery speech he delivered on the House floor:
.@RepMattGaetz: "I'm nominating Jim Jordan. Jim Jordan is humble, perhaps today humble to a fault. Maybe the right person for the job of Speaker of the House isn't someone who wants it so bad." pic.twitter.com/HJgJm4dDsU
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 3, 2023
Meanwhile, Democrats have remained steadfast in their support for having Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) succeed Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for the role.
Gaetz is not alone in his strong stance against McCarthy. Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) has opposed the longtime member of House leadership from the very beginning.
The congressman told Townhall Tuesday night, McCarthy “is part of the problem. He is not part of the solution. We’ve got to defeat the status quo in order to bring true transformational change to Congress in order to try to save the country.”
This stance was perhaps made even more clear after the Virginia representative pledged that those standing in McCarthy’s way “will never cave.”
“He is never going to be speaker,” the congressman reportedly said. “We will never cave. We will never vote for him. The sooner he pulls out … the better everyone is and we can move together to find who the best person is who can get 218.”
Bob Good, Virginia R, on McCarthy: “He is never going to be speaker. We will never cave. We will never vote for him. The sooner he pulls out … the better everyone it is and we can move together to find who the best person is who can get 218,” he said, per @tedbarrettcnn
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 3, 2023
Good additionally stated he is “very pleased that my colleagues and I have held together with 20 votes after the first three ballots against Kevin McCarthy,” and predicted that people will “continue to see Kevin McCarthy lose a greater number of votes.”
“At some point, he will recognize the reality as he continues to lose support, and he will drop out,” he said.
Rep. Jordan has told Townhall that he prefers to be placed as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee rather than Speaker of the House.
Numerous conservatives have argued this is “exactly” why they would like for Jodan to take the job.
Conservatives will vote for Jim Jordan on third ballot too, per Bob Good. He told me he expects Jordan’s support to grow.
“And I think we're gonna see his numbers grow.”
He said the fact that Jordan doesn’t want the gavel is “exactly” why they want him.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 3, 2023
