He Congressman Jim Jordan, ally of former United States President Donald Trump (2017-2021) and member of the hard wing of the Republican Party, He failed this Tuesday in the first vote to be elected the new leader of the House of Representatives.
Some of his colleagues turned their backs on him, so Jordan only got 200 votes, 17 less than he needed to take over the position that has been vacant since fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy was dismissed on October 3 by a motion against him presented by the ultra-conservative Matt Gaetz.
The Republicans have the majority in the Lower House, with 221 seats, but 20 members of that party opted for candidates who had not even run, like McCarthy, who got 6 votes, or Steve Scalise, to whom 7 votes were directed.
Scalise had initially been nominated by Republicans to run for president of the institution, but he withdrew from the race last week when he saw that he did not have enough support.
McCarthy was removed from office with 216 votes in favor and 210 against. Gaetz’s motion was joined by all Democratic congressmen and eight rebellious Republicans who reproached him for inefficient management and concessions to progressives.
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Last January, after Republicans won the House majority in the November 2022 midterm elections, It took McCarthy 15 attempts to be elected “speaker”, as that position is known in English.
This Tuesday, Jordan faced the minority leader in the Lower House, Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, who obtained 212 votes. They were equally insufficient, but his colleagues applauded him on several occasions this Tuesday, pointing out that he is the only one who can end the current parliamentary chaos.
The Republican candidate had been publicly endorsed by Trump before the vote and this Tuesday the former president expressed confidence that he will achieve the position: “He is still quite young and very strong. He has very appropriate opinions about our country. He loves our country and wants to see that it does well,” he said in New York.
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On the Democratic side, however, they warned of the consequences of his being elected.
“Jordan has officially fought for the most extremist and unpopular points of the far-right agenda, from banning abortion nationwide to leading efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and pushing for costly government shutdowns,” criticized the Democratic National Committee executive director Sam Cornale.
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