More than two weeks into an unprecedented leadership crisis, House Republicans might have finally hit rock bottom.
On Thursday, lawmakers lurched between different options to get themselves out of the mess created by the right-wing removal of Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker.
Instead, Republicans sunk further into the mess during a closed-door, three-hour conference meeting on Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT
The meeting itself has already become the stuff of legend in the Capitol. It featured McCarthy reportedly yelling at Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), the ringleader of the coup which ousted him, and Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL) reportedly lunging at Gaetz. It featured lawmakers heatedly studying copies of the U.S. Constitution, even waving them in the air, as they debated their unprecedented situation. And plenty of yelling.
For some lawmakers, it was apparently too much. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), for instance, left the meeting early. He told reporters he needed to pray.
But after all of the drama, the House GOP ended up in exactly the same place.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) remains the GOP nominee, and he is still trying to win over 22 lawmakers who voted against him on Wednesday ahead of a potential third vote on Thursday evening.
As of Thursday morning, however, Jordan seemed to believe he could not overcome that opposition quickly. His camp told reporters he would retreat from a planned third vote, which he was expected to lose.
Instead, the Ohio Republican was getting behind a plan to temporarily stop the House GOP’s bleeding: empower the Speaker pro tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), to conduct essential House business on a short-term basis.
A source familiar with Jordan’s plans said he was not dropping out and would continue to run as the Speaker nominee, with the aim of shoring up the necessary 217 votes by January.
In the interim, McHenry would be able to advance legislation like aid to Israel and government funding ahead of a Nov. 17 shutdown deadline.
Even under a best case scenario, such a plan would only become reality with the support of House Democrats. Members of the minority indicated they would back an interim McHenry speakership if the majority agreed on certain concessions.
But hours after this seemed like the path forward, House conservatives revolted against that plan in their closed-door party meeting, slamming the idea as a capitulation to the Washington establishment.
Summing up the sentiment, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) tweeted that empowering a speaker pro tem would be a win for President Joe Biden and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
"Change is uncomfortable, but the alternative is the status quo, which I wasn't elected to participate in," said Donalds.
Exiting the meeting, Jordan told reporters he would keep going—which clearly was not his preferred plan.
“I'm still running for speaker, and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race,” Jordan said. “But I want to go talk to a few of my colleagues.”
