Jordan hadn't come close to the required 217 votes in the first two votes this week; in fact, he lost one vote the second time around (from 200 to 199) and reportedly was expected to lose further votes in a third ballot.
According to Fox News, Jordan says he will now back a move to empower House Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-North Carolina) until January. McHenry was immediately named to that temporary post after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was voted out on Oct. 3.
A spokesman for Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Michigan), a retired Marine Corps general, has stated Bergman is "prepared to step up" if called upon to take the Speaker's chair and be a stable force to lead the House until the new term begins in 2025. Other names popping up include Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), the House GOP Conference vice chair; Budget Committee chair Rep. Jodey Arrington of Texas; Republican Study Committee chair Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma; and Rep. Chip Roy (Texas).
McHenry? That's a problem …
Walker Wildmon, CEO of AFA Action, admits being disappointed Jordan has backed out of this race for speaker only after a few days of voting. "[Still,] we're hopeful and optimistic [he] will jump back in at some point in the coming weeks or months to attain the speakership," he tells AFN.
Wildmon is dismissing the emergence of other potential candidates like Representative Jack Bergman of Michigan, a retired Marine general.
"It's hard to see anybody other than Jim Jordan being Speaker of the House. He had nearly 90% of the caucus fully behind him, at least before this week," Wildmon notes. "I'm not sure there's another leader in the Republican Party who can be Speaker of the House like Jim Jordan can. This is going to be an interesting few weeks and months to see what happens here."
The conservative political pundit admits he has a big concern about Patrick McHenry, the current Speaker Pro Tempore, filling the seat permanently.
"The Democrats have said that they want McHenry, which is a little bit concerning. [Representatives] Maxine Waters and [Hakeem] Jeffries and the rest of them have said that they would really love to see McHenry as Speaker.
"That's a problem," Wildmon continues. "That doesn't sit well with me to see the Democrats' excitement for McHenry to be the Speaker … but we'll see how he responds and what he does as a leader."
Effort to expand McHenry's powers bypasses Constitution
The Speaker Pro Tem position has only been around for about 20 years, passed in the wake of 9-11 when lawmakers considered the possibility of a terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“The position of Speaker Pro Tem doesn't show up in the Constitution,” Ken Klukowski, a former attorney in the White House and Department of Justice, said on Washington Watch Wednesday. “After 9-11 there were concerns about continuity of government in the event that there would be a massive terrorist strike in our nation's capital. What would happen if the U.S. House became crippled due to a lack of leadership?”
The decision was to create a position with very limited authority, one tasked only with the process of electing a new Speaker alongside some minor administrative issues.
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pennsylvania) on Monday introduced a resolution that would temporarily expand McHenry's powers until Nov. 17 or until a new Speaker is elected, whichever happens first.
Kelly's resolution is out of bounds, Klukowski says, noting that while the House can create its own rules to govern itself, The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 – which is a law and not a House or Senate "rule" – states the third in line of the presidency is the House Speaker ... not a Speaker Pro Tem.
“The statute specifies the Speaker of the House. So, the law says it has to be the duly elected Speaker to be in the presidential line of success -- and there would be nothing the House could do by rule to the contrary,” Klukowski explained.
While the Speaker chair is vacated, the GOP is not represented in the presidential line of succession, which goes from the Vice President, to House Speaker, to President Pro Tem of the Senate, then to sitting Cabinet members who are ranked by the age of the department they serve.
When the Speaker's chair is filled, there are 18 people in the presidential line of success -- and currently, only one of them is held by a Republican, Klukowski noted.
“It's a bad idea to try doing an end-run around the Constitution. Instead, Congress just needs to properly elect a true Speaker of the House,” Klukowski concluded.
Editor's Note: AFA Action is an affiliate of the American Family Association, the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
Wildmon't comments added after story was originally posted.
