Republican Jim Jordan trying to sway holdouts in bid for US House speaker role

Right-wing congressman Jim Jordan is seeking to shore up support for his attempt to succeed Kevin McCarthy as US House of Representatives speaker, with plans to appear on the House floor early this week to try to sway Republican members of Congress who signalled in a secret ballot vote they will not support his bid.

Mr Jordan, a staunch ally of Donald Trump, claimed in a brief interview he believes he will get the votes required to secure the speakership in a ballot he wants to happen on Tuesday. “We think we’re going to get [the] 217 [votes needed],” Mr Jordan told Politico.

Former House speaker Kevin McCarthy has expressed support for Mr Jordan’s bid to succeed him after a small faction of eight Republicans in the House joined Democrats to oust Mr McCarthy from the role earlier this month and plunged the party into a bitter squabble.

Congressman Steve Scalise of Louisiana was slated to secure the Republican nomination for the speaker role before Mr Scalise withdrew from the speakership race after he failed to secure enough support to win a vote. With Republicans holding a slim majority of three seats in the House, any group of Republican holdouts could cause any nominee to fail to secure the speakership.

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Several Republicans have publicly said they remain No votes on Mr Jordan’s speakership. Mike Rogers of Alabama and John Rutherford and Carlos Gimenez of Florida are reported to be in this group.

Mr Trump has vocally supported Mr Jordan for the speakership role. The stalemate has halted legislative business.

Supporters of Mr Jordan have gone on social media encouraging followers to call Republican holdouts to demand they support Mr Jordan’s bid or face efforts to oust them in primaries.

Democrats have expressed concerns over Mr Jordan’s speakership bid, citing the congressman’s role leading up to and in the wake of the January 6th attack on the US Capitol in the wake of Donald Trump’s election defeat.

“House Republicans are intent on doubling down and have chosen to nominate a vocal election-denier in Jim Jordan,” said congressman Pete Aguilar, chairman of the Democratic caucus. “A man whose rhetoric and partisanship fomented the January 6th attack on this very building, on these very steps.”

Republican infighting has left the House paralysed for close to two weeks, since Mr McCarthy’s removal.

Republicans control the House of Representatives by a narrow 221-212 margin, meaning they can afford to lose no more than four votes if Democrats vote against Mr Jordan, as they are expected to do. Successive closed-door votes on Friday left Mr Jordan with the backing of a majority of House Republicans, but still shy of the 217 votes he would need to be elected speaker. — Guardian/Reuters