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WASHINGTON — Republican Jim Jordan will try to claim the gavel of the Speaker of the House of Representatives on Tuesday in a vote that could elevate the prominent and combative right-wing figure to one of the most powerful posts in Washington.
Since clinching his party's nomination on Friday, the Ohio lawmaker has spent days trying to bring the 55 fellow Republicans who voted against him into his corner, ahead of Tuesday's expected 10 a.m. MST vote to fill a leadership post that has been vacant for two weeks, grinding the House to a halt.
"I felt good walking into the conference; I feel even better now," Jordan, 59, told reporters after meeting with House Republicans for two hours on Monday evening. His predecessor Kevin McCarthy, the first speaker in U.S. history to be voted out of office, endured a grinding 15 votes over four days in January to win the job.
Jordan will also have to go undergo multiple votes if he cannot get a clear majority of 217 on the first round. At least seven Republicans — more than he can lose and still get elected — said they could oppose him. Others were still undecided.
Since McCarthy's Oct. 3 ouster, Republican infighting has left the House leaderless and unable to address urgent concerns such as support for Israel and Ukraine and funding for the U.S. government.
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