No one knows what will happen on Capitol Hill

maybe

Republicans in the House of Representatives the least.

As the House entered its eleventh day without a speaker on Friday afternoon, Republicans, who have a narrow majority in the House, appeared unable to come close to choosing a replacement for the ousted Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield).

Jim Jordan, the Ohio representative selected by former President Trump as speaker, became the parties’ new nominee on Friday afternoon after a secret ballot. Jordan, a conservative firebrand, won 124-81 over Georgia Rep. Austin Scott, who entered the race Friday morning but then pledged to support the Ohioan in a floor vote.

Yet Jordan’s path to the speakership was far from clear. At least six Republicans have publicly pledged not to vote for him, only to ensure his defeat in the House of Representatives unless he can change his mind.

After the first secret ballot, Republicans voted privately on whether to support Jordan in a vote in the full House; only 152 members Reportedly said they would, and 55 said they wouldn’t. One member voted present.

At least a dozen

Republicans

apparently missed

the meeting behind closed doors completely. And by 5 p.m. Friday, lawmakers, fiercely loyal to their weekends, had won their bid to elect a chairman

as soon as possible

.

Jordan advised members to go home and come back next week to try again. Floor votes could take place as soon as Monday evening.

The mood in the halls of Congress veered between frustration and farce as Republican lawmakers limped out of the chamber, grumbling about the rifts that made it impossible for their party to achieve anything.

There are people out there who are honorably trying to get into the right place, and then there are people, as you know, who like to be on TV and don’t necessarily negotiate for anything other than TV time, Scott told reporters. . It makes us look like a bunch of idiots.

McCarthy was optimistic about Jordan’s chances, arguing that he could get the required 217 votes.

With two vacancies in the House of Representatives, there are currently 221 Republican members.

“He will get there,” he told reporters after the closed-door meeting. “I don’t see a problem with him not coming there.”

Right there

last

For 48 hours the party had chosen Louisiana

‘S

Representative Steve Scalise was his nominee, and he had subsequently withdrawn, citing his inability to gather enough votes to win the gavel in a floor vote.

Since regaining the majority in the House of Representatives, Republicans have struggled to demonstrate unity to the public.

Party leaders twice relied on Democrats’ votes in May to maintain basic government functions to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its debt, and last month to prevent a shutdown of key services. which would have closed national parks and left military service members unpaid.

In late September, the party collapsed, and a handful of Republican rebels, led by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, were joined by Democrats in a vote to oust McCarthy from the speakership.

McCarthy’s removal paralyzed the House when Hamas militants killed hundreds of Israelis in a surprise attack from the Gaza Strip last weekend. The House is leaderless as Israel prepares a ground invasion of the densely populated Palestinian territory that could kill thousands of people.

Without a permanent speaker, it is unclear whether the House of Representatives can send Israel additional aid, as many members have requested. The Pentagon has also urged Republicans in the House of Representatives to approve further funding for Ukraine, warning that Russia could win that war if U.S. support dries up.

Both major parties have floated the idea of ​​replacing Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (RN.C.), the speaker pro tempore, to take more action as interim leader so that the House can continue to function. But Republican leaders have taken no steps to make that happen.

Democrats remain universally united around their speaker candidate: Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

If the House of Representatives and Senate fail to reach a government funding deal by mid-November, the federal government will shutter, curtailing services and leaving military personnel and many other government workers without paychecks in the run-up to Thanksgiving.

Even if Jordan can secure the speakership, it’s not clear he can keep it.

The Ohio congressman, a right-wing darling who has cast doubt on the results of the 2020 election, has the support of Trump and Fox News host Sean Hannity. But Jordan has limited experience negotiating with Democrats, who control the White House and Senate, and his appeal to moderates and swing voters may be limited.

Jeffries, speaking at a press conference on Friday: paralysed the GOP for their division.

The Republican civil war in the House of Representatives continues to rage, plunging Congress into chaos, dysfunction and extremism, the Democratic leader said. He criticized Republicans for nominating Jordan, characterizing him as “chairman of the chaos caucus; a defender, dangerously, of dysfunction; and an extremist extraordinaire.

Republicans also criticized their party’s nominee for the post.

If Rs nominates Jordan for chairman, they will give up the Constitution, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican critic of Trump, said on X, formerly known as Twitter. They will lose the majority in the House, and they will deserve it.

Jordan faces other potential liabilities. Among them, he faces allegations that he knew of sexual abuse at Ohio State University that overlapped with his tenure as an assistant wrestling coach there.

His denials, which he knew, have upset wrestlers and other advocates, who told The Times this week that he had repeatedly refused to help survivors. A George Clooney HBO documentary about the scandal is in production.

Times writers Faith Pinho in Santa Barbara and Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu in Washington contributed to this report.