Jordan Backs Patrick McHenry as Super-Temporary Speaker [UPDATED]
He might prefer McDeath.
WaPo:
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will not seek an additional speaker vote Thursday, and he will back a plan to give Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.), the temporary speaker, additional powers, according to multiple people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the situation. After two rounds of votes, a group of Republicans had made clear that Jordan did not have enough support to win the speaker’s gavel. With House functions at a standstill, lawmakers can now consider a proposal to expand McHenry’s powers.
and
Rep. Mark Molinaro (R-N.Y.), who twice voted for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), told reporters he’s “hopeful” Jordan supports the effort to empower the temporary speaker to move legislation through the House.
“I think that would go a long way to, sort of, resetting where we are, de-escalating the situation and most importantly, getting us back to work,” Molinaro said.
and
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she’s absolutely opposed to the resolution to empower Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.) and believes it’s a mistake for Rep. Jim Jordan to back it.
Greene said it’s time for the GOP to stop the “never” attitude. “The ‘Never Trump,’ the ‘Never Kevin McCarthy,’ the ‘Never Steve Scalise,’ the ‘Never Jim Jordan’ is only working against each other, which is working against our voters and working against the country,” she said. “And I really want to see us people put down their egos.”
and
Rep. John Rutherford (R-Fla.), who has voted against Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), said Republicans may have no other choice but to empower Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.) to move legislation through the House, if Jordan does not do the “honorable thing” and step down as the Republican speaker designee amid this stalemate.
Rutherford added, “If it takes another two months, I’ll still be voting against him.”
“Look,” Rutherford said. “[Rep.] Steve Scalise [R-La.] beat him in a head-to-head race in the conference, and he refused to accept the outcome of that race. He broke the rules, didn’t follow the majority vote, and now he wants us to.”
Apparently, Jordan realized that he’s not going to win the Speakership any time soon. He has not formally withdrawn from the race but it’s clear he has a pile of enemies in the Republican Caucus. At some point, he’ll realize he’s never going to be Speaker, allowing some other candidate to emerge.
All the signs point to Democrats backing allowing McHenry to assume most of the powers of Speaker in order to get the government back in operation, so it really doesn’t matter what Greene and the other wackos want. It sure doesn’t seem like McHenry was keen on the job, though.
UPDATE (1556): It appears that the caucus overwhelmingly rejected the compromise and Jordan will now put himself up for yet another vote this afternoon. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Conventional wisdom is there’s nothing as permanent as a temporary tax, fee, or surcharge.
What of a temporary speaker, the highest power in the House and third in the line of succession?
If this happens, I hope the Dems can get some concessions for backing him, like Democratic bills coming to the floor with straight up and down votes.
Kudos for the subtitle. I laughed.
I suspect that I am missing something. But why doesn’t McHenry run for speaker?
Are Democrats afraid that he will make them all vacate their offices and move to somewhere across the Potomac?
My 1st thought was, if Jordan supports this, it can’t be good.
My 2nd thought was, why not vote McHenry to be Speaker until the Gang of 8 tires of him?
He stated in the past he had no interest in the position–especially with the debt ceiling looming. They touch on this in the Lawfare episode on this topic:
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-lawfare-podcast-what-the-heck-is-a-speaker-pro-tempore
Jordan’s in favor of McHenry staying on for even a short while? Kiss of death. Stick a fork in him, Patrick’s done.
@Kathy: Yeah, the constitutional implications of having a caretaker second in line to be president ought to cause a sudden deep intake of breath in Washington.
Dr. Joyner’s subtitle game has leveled up lately, nicely done!
Headline I just received from The Hill: GOP opposition builds to empowering McHenry as temporary Speaker.
It’d be easier to herd cats wired on coke than get the current Republican House members to agree on literally anything.
@Kathy:
I am guessing that the powers Congress can delegate to a temporary Speaker do not include being third in line of succession.
@Not the IT Dept.: Fortunately, it appears that McHenry isn’t phased by the potential trap because he doesn’t want the job. Of course, we won’t really know that to be true until he does a Sherman (“if nominated, I will not run; if elected…”). He might only be playing “twist my arm.”
House rules are weird, man. Since he was designated Speaker pro tempore by McCarthy on his way out the door, McHenry has limited powers. If the House elects him Speaker pro temp, he gains some authority:
(Wonder which funeral prompted the second to last one…)
@DrDaveT: Regardless, the elected post is “Speaker pro tempore”, which isn’t actually a Speaker (a post which has been vacated). For that, the controlling law is the Presidential Succession Act – which specifically calls out this scenario!
One of the late night comics said yesterday Gym wants to lose unanimously.
YESSSSSSSS!!! The GQP in a nutshell–redefining dysfunctional!
So many McSpeaker joke we won’t get to make now…
@Kathy: It’s a McShame.