The days go by, and the Republicans in the House of Representatives cannot agree on who should be the new Speaker after the ousting of Kevin McCarthy - initiated by Congressman Matt Gaetz -. The matter is even more complicated because the party has a very slim majority, so whoever wants to achieve the position of Speaker cannot afford to lose more than four votes from their own party.
Carrying out a job as important as that of Speaker of the House, with such a small majority, is already a difficult enough task; add to that the pressure from the most conservative wing to make profound changes and the wear and tear of the tough negotiations with all factions of the party to which the candidate would have to submit, and the question becomes more than simply 'Who has enough support?' Who could possibly want that position?
After Congressman Steve Scalise withdrew from the race, seeing that he did not have enough votes and that convincing the most conservative group of the party would be impossible, Congressman Jim Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary Committee and founder of the hardline group "Freedom Caucus," has been nominated this Friday the 13th for the position. However, with only 124 congressmen supporting him in the internal vote, Jordan will have a lot of work to do to convince other Republicans and reach the 217 votes he needs to become Speaker of the House effectively.
What's the deal with Jim Jordan?
In reality, the biggest problem facing the congressman is the discontent with the actions of some members of the most conservative wing, which caused McCarthy's expulsion and brought the party into this exhausting situation. Representative Jim Jordan has done an arduous and highly lauded job as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, in which, among other things, he has given insight into important investigations such as the corruption scheme of which the Biden family is accused. However, many congressmen believe that by giving their vote to Jordan, the candidate from the most conservative faction, they would be rewarding the "bad behavior" of those who removed McCarthy.
It is normal for any congressman who wants the position of Speaker to face a difficult path of negotiations with the different groups in the party and to make concessions and promises. It serves to remember that McCarthy only won the presidency after 15 rounds of voting and too many concessions, including the possibility that any party member could present a motion to remove him. The problem with Jordan is that much of the rejection is not towards him and has nothing to do with the negotiations he could make, but rather it would be a punishing vote for his caucus.
Jordan's chances
While it is difficult for the most moderate congressmen to renounce their protest against the strong conservative wing and agree to vote for Jim Jordan, it is also true that a nominee of the moderate faction cannot become Speaker if at least part of that strong conservative group does not support it. For now, the Freedom Caucus seems to maintain that the candidate has to be Jordan.
Someone will eventually have to give in, or else there won't be a Speaker of the House. The moderates will have to accept Jim Jordan and forget the expulsion of McCarthy or, otherwise, in a long and tedious process, some moderate candidate, with the support of the majority of the party - like the one Scalise had - will have to make concessions to convince some of the Freedom Caucus to vote for him and thus reach the necessary 217 votes. However, if the concessions allow the impeachment motion to be presented by only one representative, we could soon find ourselves in this same drama again.
