In remarks from Wednesday after Republicans currently in the House majority again failed to seat somebody as Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — still in Congress despite exiting her party leadership role — called the defeat of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) (Republicans’ pick) a triumph.
Republicans had so far proven themselves more interested in appeasing far-right interests within their party than working with Democrats on a bipartisan solution to get the House functioning again more quickly. As Thursday dawned, reports emerged that Jordan would be supporting further empowering Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) as an ostensibly interim Speaker through January. McHenry had already been leading the limited proceedings the House had been holding after the removal from the Speaker’s chair of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
“It was a triumph for democracy in our country that an insurrectionist was rejected by the Republicans again as their candidate for Speaker,” Pelosi said. “We’ve always wished the winning party well as they choose their leader. I’ve never in the decades that I’ve been here, when we’ve had a Speaker’s race on our side or their side, we’ve always respected each other’s judgment.” Pelosi indicated Jordan was different, though.
(UPDATE: Reports suggested Thursday the McHenry plan wasn’t moving forward after all, but who knows? The original article continues below.)
Democrats have consistently pointed to his role in helping push conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential race, and the Ohioan — who has never seen a bill that he originated become law — was also among the many Republicans who voted against the full backing by Congress of the presidential election results from that year, despite no evidence supporting claims of extensive fraud.
Democratic groups were also preparing to use Republicans’ votes in favor of Jordan becoming Speaker against them in forthcoming campaigning. “The DCCC is committed to ensuring that every battleground Member of the Republican conference who stands and votes for a Speaker Jordan will be making a career ending move,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) said. That group is an official Democratic Party organization that involves itself in House races.
After leaving a House Democratic Caucus meeting, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said, “it was a triumph for democracy in our country that an insurrectionist was rejected by the Republicans again as their candidate for Speaker.” pic.twitter.com/uHnU2XfZtV
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 18, 2023
