Anger and frustration are boiling over among House Republicans as Rep. Jim Jordan vows to stay in the race for the speaker’s gavel despite steep opposition and growing pressure from within the GOP conference to drop out.
Jordan’s office said the Ohio Republican is pressing on, telling reporters the House is expected to hold its next vote for speaker on Friday at 10 a.m. ET.
House Republicans gathered behind closed doors on Thursday in a meeting that members described as a tense airing of grievances. Later in the day, Jordan spoke separately with some of the holdouts who have opposed his bid, but several emerged from the meeting saying they have not changed their mind – the latest sign that Jordan lacks a path to the speakership.
During the meeting with holdouts, members made clear to Jordan they were immovable in their opposition. One person in the room told CNN that after that meeting it should be clear to Jordan he has no path to become speaker. The purpose of the meeting was to make it crystal clear that “it’s over,” they said.
Jordan told CNN, “We had a good discussion” as he left the meeting but wouldn’t answer any other questions about the fate of his candidacy or if there would be another floor vote Thursday evening.
During the closed-door GOP conference meeting earlier in the day that turned heated some members railed against Jordan, multiple sources told CNN, and one swore at Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the rebellion against former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whose ouster has led to the more-than-two-week leadership vacuum.
There was also debate during the meeting over whether Republicans should support a resolution to temporarily expand the powers of interim Speaker Rep. Patrick McHenry – a controversial move that would put the House even further into uncharted territory following McCarthy’s historic ouster. But House Republicans leaving the meeting said the resolution likely did not have a path forward amid widespread opposition within the conference.
In a sign of the emotional tone of the meeting, Gaetz was at one point told to sit down by McCarthy and refused to do so, which led to Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois becoming “all emotional and ugly and was cussing him,” and “telling him it’s all his fault,” one member said describing the meeting.
Other sources, confirming this exchange, said McCarthy “yelled” at Gaetz to sit down. And when Gaetz didn’t listen, another member in the room yelled “sit the f*** down, Matt.”
CNN
