One of the leading Republican Trumpists, Jim Jordan, was named his party’s candidate for the presidency of the House of Representatives on Friday, but a solution to the crisis caused by the vacancy of this strategic position still appeared to be a long way off.
• Also read: United States: Trump supports Jim Jordan for House Speaker
The House of Representatives, which, unlike the Senate with a Democratic majority, is controlled by Republicans, has been virtually paralyzed since the surprise dismissal of its “speaker” Kevin McCarthy on October 3, after an internal rebellion a year earlier exposed the party’s gaping fractures the 2024 presidential election.
The United States is currently unable to vote for new aid to Israel, a historic ally embroiled in a war with the Palestinian Hamas. Not even an additional envelope for Russia-attacked Ukraine, which has been discussed for weeks.
This is the second vote this week within the Republican caucus, which is torn between moderate elected officials and troublemakers surrounding former President Donald Trump.
The previous one, Tuesday, was narrowly won by Steve Scalise, leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives and elected from Louisiana (South), against Jim Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary Affairs Committee and elected from Ohio (Central). ) supported by Mr. Trump.
But Steve Scalise announced Thursday evening that he was abandoning his candidacy because he could not garner enough votes to be elected Speaker.
Short majority
Jim Jordan, who defeated Austin Scott in a secret vote on Friday, another member of the party’s conservative wing elected from Georgia (Southeast), may find himself in a similar situation given the slim Republican majority (217 votes to 212 Democrats). said political commentators.
He received 124 votes against 81 for his opponent, American media reports.
In a second vote to find out how many elected Republicans would actually vote for him before the full House, he received 152 yes votes and 55 no votes, a deficit of 65 votes, according to the same sources.
Therefore, unless there is a dramatic turn of events, the situation seems to be frozen until next week. By late Friday afternoon, many elected officials from both parties had left Washington.
Despite holding fairly similar conservative positions on abortion rights, the death penalty or firearms, Jim Jordan and Austin Scott distanced themselves from each other in the vote to certify the 2020 election of Democratic President Joe Biden, which was vehemently contested by Donald Trump.
The first voted against validating the results, the second voted for it.