House Keeps Putinists Out of Speaker’s Chair

The best chance so far for the Kremlin caucus to get control of the House has ended (WaPo).

House Republicans on Friday removed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as their nominee for speaker of the House after he failed repeatedly to earn the necessary votes to take the gavel, again delaying the House from reopening for business.

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In total, twenty-five Republicans voted against Jordan and no lawmakers flipped to support him. Jordan lost more support than he gained during each of the three rounds of voting, a sign that his pressure campaign had backfired.

Exasperated, Republicans conferred Friday afternoon and voted 112-86 to remove him as their speaker-designate, triggering a new round of candidate forums next week to elect a new speaker-designate — their third in as many weeks.

Note that I said their “best chance so far.” It’s not their last. Among the announced candidates (as of Friday at 5:41 PM from The Hill), three of them – Jack Bergman (MI), Pete Sessions (TX), and Austin Scott (GA) – all voted for Ukraine funding last month. Two, Kevin Hern (OK) and Byron Donalds (FL), voted no. Four more potential candidates are being discussed: Jodey Arrington (TX – No), Dan Meuser (PA – yes), Mike Johnson (LA – no), and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (MN – yes).

The pro-Ukraine Republicans surprised many of us by taking a stand – and this includes my own member, Jen Kiggans. They need to keep at it, though, lest Hern or Arrington succeed for Putin where Jim Jordan failed.