The House Republican conference has rejected the idea of advancing a resolution to bestow additional authority upon Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. speaker pro tempore, according to Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Jim Jordan of Ohio.
"No. It's not going to happen," Donalds said as he exited a three-hour GOP meeting, CNN reported.
"That is the decision, as I understand it. And I think even Patrick, to his credit and to his fidelity to the U.S. Constitution, understands that we cannot just drop powers in the lap of somebody. The House has to elect the speaker; and then from that, everything else flows."
Previously, several House Republicans had indicated Jordan's support for a resolution empowering the interim speaker until January while he garnered backing for his own speakership candidacy.
"We made the pitch to members on the resolution as a way to lower the temperature and get back to work," Jordan said, according to CNN. "We decided that wasn't where we're going to go."
Donalds added that the requisite votes for a resolution were simply lacking.
"And to my colleagues who wanted to support it, I understand why they wanted to support it," he said. "Because, look, time is of the essence because [of] a lot of things that we have to do. But the No. 1 thing that this body must do is elect a speaker before you conduct any business."
Donalds, a member of the Financial Services Committee, backs Jordan for the speakership.
"I'm with Jim Jordan until Jim Jordan says he doesn't want to run anymore," he said.
Jordan remains resolute in his pursuit of the speakership.
"I'm still running for speaker, and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race," he said. "But I want to go talk with a few of my colleagues, particularly want to talk with the 20 individuals who voted against me so that we can move forward and begin to work for the American people."
While Jordan refrained from disclosing whether House lawmakers were heading to the floor today, some House Republicans disclosed their intent to conduct another floor vote today in their efforts to elect a speaker.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said that they would provide Jordan "a couple of hours" to converse with those who had reservations before proceeding to the floor. She added, "I think that's what we are trying to give him a couple of hours to do now, and I think we will have a vote."
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who spearheaded the removal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker, concurred, expressing his anticipation for another vote in support of Jordan. He expressed contentment that the outcome did not entail the establishment of a "speaker-lite" or a ratified speaker pro tempore.
"It's our obligation to elect a speaker," Gaetz said. "And I'm glad we were able to throw cold water on speaker-lite."
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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