U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) (R) talks to Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) as the House of Representatives prepares to hold a vote on a new Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol on October 18, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Win Mcnamee | Getty Images
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, will back a plan to empower interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry until January, people with knowledge of the matter told NBC News and CNBC on Thursday.
The plan to temporarily empower McHenry to oversee the passage of legislation would act as a bridge until the deeply divided Republican conference can coalesce around a permanent replacement.
McHenry’s current powers as interim speaker are limited as Congress faces a ticking clock to pass spending legislation by Nov. 17 to avoid a government shutdown. President Joe Biden has also urged lawmakers to pass emergency security assistance for Israel as the Middle East descends into war.
Jordan will remain in the race for speaker and try to shore up support for his bid should McHenry take the gavel on a temporary basis, the people said.
The Ohio Republican’s bid to become speaker failed in two separate votes this week in a stinging rebuke from his own party. It is unclear whether Jordan will push for a third vote Thursday, one of the people said.
Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio, said earlier this week that he plans to introduce a resolution to empower McHenry so the House can move forward with urgent business.
Democrats have been talking to Republicans about empowering McHenry and there is respect for Joyce’s plan as a path forward, one of the people with knowledge of the matter, a senior Democrat, told NBC News.
But another of the people cautioned that a resolution to temporarily empower McHenry may not have enough votes in the House.
Some Jordan allies were furious at the plan to empower McHenry.
“Expanding powers for a temporary Speaker is a dangerous precedent and exactly what the Democrats hoped would happen,” said Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana in a post on “X” Thursday.
And several GOP lawmakers said resolution was dead after leaving a closed-door conference meeting Thursday afternoon.
“Reading the room, this thing is dead,” Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida told reporters.
“It’s pretty clear at our conference meeting that the resolution is not gonna be supported,” said Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida. “So I think that’s pretty much over.”
“I don’t think we’re going to move forward on that resolution,” said Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado.
McHenry said Thursday he has not spoken with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York or other Democrats about empowering him to oversee legislation.
“I’m focused on electing Jim Jordan, the speaker nominee, as speaker of the House. That’s my goal, that’s my purpose,” McHenry told reporters.
House Republicans have been unable to find a candidate with enough votes to become speaker more than two weeks after a faction of eight GOP lawmakers ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California.
The House is paralyzed and unable to pass legislation until lawmakers elect a speaker.
The GOP has a narrow majority in the House, and in the absence of Democratic support any Republican speaker candidate can afford to lose only four votes from within their party.
So far, no Republican has been able to rally the party behind them. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise was the GOP’s original nominee to replace McCarthy, but the Louisiana congressman was forced to drop his bid last week after it became clear he did not have the votes.
Jordan, who originally lost to Scalise in an internal party vote for the nomination, then threw his hat back in the ring.
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