Republicans on the House’s elite panel overseeing government funding, among others, appeared to be in an all-out rebellion against a potential Jim Jordan speakership on Tuesday afternoon while the Ohio Republican’s allies huddled behind closed doors to plot strategy.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a senior appropriator from Florida, released a letter just before 4 p.m. urging leadership to immediately hold a second speaker vote on Tuesday before Jordan, R-Ohio, could consolidate additional support. Earlier in the afternoon, 20 GOP lawmakers opposed Jordan on the first ballot.
Regardless of the push by Jordan critics, after a meeting in Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office on Tuesday afternoon Jordan said the next vote would be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday. That would likely give enough time for Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., to return to Washington after an absence Tuesday afternoon and likely pad Jordan’s tally.
