Republican Indiana Rep. Jim Banks told the Daily Caller “the vast majority” of members in his party oppose electing Republican North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry as temporary speaker.
The House failed to elect a new speaker twice in mid-October after a handful of Republicans voted against Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the speaker-designee. On Thursday, Jordan initially planned to back McHenry as temporary House speaker and continue to remain speaker-designee until the next floor vote in early January 2024, a source familiar told the Caller.
Banks endorsed Jordan to be the next speaker and vowed to oppose any move to hold back the Republican majority.
“Jim Jordan is the conservative fighter we need to be our next Speaker of the House and I will continue to vote for him as long as it takes. I will oppose any efforts to hand our majority back over to the Democrats or any other foolish move by Republicans to screw our voters,” Banks said.
Jordan then said later Thursday he intends to win the gavel and plans to speak with the 22 Republican holdouts.
“I’m still running for speaker and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race,” Jordan said. “I want to go talk with my colleagues, particularly talk with the 20 individuals who voted against me, so that we can move forward and work for the American people.”
Jim Jordan is the conservative fighter we need to be our next Speaker of the House and I will continue to vote for him as long as it takes.
I will oppose any efforts to hand our majority back over to the Democrats or any other foolish move by Republicans to screw our voters. https://t.co/KTFGcvGFvv
— Jim Banks (@Jim_Banks) October 19, 2023
Republican Texas Rep. Pat Fallon similarly estimated about two-thirds of Republicans in the House oppose the plan for McHenry to be interim speaker, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Jordan failed to receive the 217 necessary votes during the first ballot Wednesday, where 20 Republicans voted against him. The speaker-designee received 199 votes after 22 members of his own party voted against him during the second floor vote Thursday. (RELATED: ‘I’m Against Bud Light’: Gaetz Slams ‘Speaker-Light’ Strategy Of Empowering McHenry)
The House has had a vacant speaker seat since Oct. 3, when every House Democrat and eight Republicans voted for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to vacate the chair. The vacancy sprung from a forced vote brought forth by Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who filed a motion to vacate earlier that day.
A number of House Republicans, including Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona and Nancy Mace of South Carolina, told the Daily Caller on Thursday that members of their party are voting against Jordan to “spite” Gaetz.
Two Republicans — New York Reps. Andrew Garbarino and Anthony D’Esposito — voted for former New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin. A handful of others voted for McCarthy, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer.