Note: This story was initially published in the wake of Rep. Jim Jordan losing his third bid to be House Speaker. Since then, Jordan has dropped out of contention, and this story has been updated accordingly.
(Ken Silva, Headline USA) For the third time in a row, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, failed to secure the House speakership after 25 Republicans refused to vote for him on Friday.
Later in the afternoon, the GOP conference met privately and ended his candidacy by a vote of 112 to 86, according to Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
Jim Jordan gave it his all.
He was the best Speaker candidate to reform Congress’s spending addiction that’s been bankrupting our country.
But sadly today the GOP conference met privately and ended his candidacy by a vote of 112 to 86.
I would have voted 1000 rounds for Jim.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) October 20, 2023
Friday morning’s vote saw Jordan lose some of the support he initially had. After garnering 200 votes earlier this week, only 194 Republicans supported Jordan in the latest tally, while 210 Democrats voted for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. Twenty-five Republicans voted for other candidates.
The Gateway Pundit published an article the night before the vote, explaining why many of the Republican holdouts are sabatoging Jordan’s bid. According to the article, at least 13 of them—led by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.—have been funded by the fraudulent crypto exchange FTX, which directed most of its funds towards Democrats before the 2022 midterms.
“Another initiative of [indicted FTX founder Sam] Bankman-Fried was Steve Scalise, the man currently preventing Jim Jordan from becoming speaker,” the Gateway Pundit reported.
“Bankman-Fried’s straw donor and co-CEO, Salame, donated $2,900 to Scalise a month before the 2022 Midterms.”
According to the Gateway Pundit, the FTX-funded RINOs include: Kay Granger, R-Texas, Mike Simpson, R-Ind., Carols Gimenez, R-Fla., Jen Higgins, R-Va. , Marinette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., Steve Womack, R-Ariz., Mike Kelly, R-Pa., Mike Simpson, R-Ind., Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., Linda Chavez-Deremer, R-Ore., Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, and John Rutherford, R-Fla.
Ahead of the vote, Jordan showed no signs of stepping aside, insisting at a Capitol press conference: “The American people are hungry for change.”
Drawing on his Ohio roots, Jordan, who is popular with the GOP’s right-flank activist base of voters, positioned his long-shot campaign alongside the history of American innovators including the Wright brothers, urging his colleagues to elect him to the speakership.
McCarthy himself rose in the chamber to nominate Jordan, portraying him as a skilled legislator who reaches for compromise. That drew scoffs of laughter from the Democratic side of the aisle.
McCarthy said of Jordan, “He is straightforward, honest and reliable.”
For more than two weeks the stalemate has shut down the U.S. House.
With Republicans in majority control of the House, 221-212, any candidate can lose only a few detractors. It appears there is no Republican at present who can win a clear majority, 217 votes, to become speaker.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
