Sao Paulo
Jim Jordan, Donald Trump’s ally and the former president’s favorite candidate for the presidency of the United States House of Representatives, lost this Tuesday the first vote for the office (17). The next round is scheduled for the following day, Jordan said.
Today, 433 of the 435 seats in the US House of Representatives are occupied, 221 of which are held by representatives of the Republican Party. To win the election, Jordan needed half of the House representatives (217) to vote for his name.
However, he received only 200 votes one Republican representative, Gus Bilirakis, did not vote and the other 20 members of his party chose alternative candidates for the post, exposing the party’s internal disputes after the unprecedented impeachment of the chamber’s former president. Representative from California, Kevin McCarthy.
McCarthy himself was among the Republicans whose name appeared on the ballot in Wednesday’s vote, even though he had announced he had no intention of running for reelection. Another was Steve Scalise, who withdrew before even testing his chances in the House after realizing his support within the party would not be enough to win an election. They both voted for Jordan.
Meanwhile, the 212 members of the Democratic Party voted en masse for Hakeem Jeffries, the congressman elected from New York and the first black person to lead the party in the House of Representatives.
The stagnation is preventing Congress from coordinating a response to the ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. There is also a risk of a shutdown of the federal government, as the chamber still has to pass budget legislation for the 2024 fiscal year McCarthy’s negotiations with the Democrats to avoid this deadlock have cost him the support he still had from the radical wing of the Republicans.
It is unclear how many of Jordan’s Republican opponents will continue to oppose the party’s new nominee in subsequent votes. But the impasse could continue for a long time see McCarthy’s election in January, who won office after just four days and 15 votes, in uncertainty not seen in 164 years.