Rep. Mike Johnson was elected as the 56th speaker of the House Wednesday after three failed GOP tries. Unlike in previous ballots, every single Republican voted for him, giving him 220 votes.
The hard-liner and 2020 election denier said the House will have an “aggressive schedule in the days and weeks ahead.”
The House has faced a chaotic speakership battle that has dragged on for three weeks.
The next speaker vote will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jordan said after he left a two-hour meeting in Whip Emmer's office.
He reiterated that he is not going to drop out of the speaker battle and emphasized that he had basically the same level of support as McCarthy on his first vote in January.
Jordan said he expects to gain support in a Wednesday morning vote, mentioning Florida Rep. Gus Bilirakis, who missed today's vote because of a family funeral. He didn’t address potential future defectors.
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Jordan says making 'great progress' ahead of next House vote
Rep. Jim Jordan lost his first bid for the speakership of the House Tuesday and the next vote is expected Wednesday morning.
ABCNews.com
Oct 17, 2023, 4:52 PM EDT
What Republicans are saying about Jordan's first-round loss
Emerging from the floor after Jordan's failed first vote, some Republicans expressed open frustration while others remained optimistic.
"We gotta wake up and stop this nonsense. There's real serious work to be done," Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Meuser said.
Meuser had "direct" and "strong" conversations with GOP colleagues after the vote to try to swing them, he said. "We've got to understand -- we've got to operate as a team, because if we don't, we will lose everything."
Rep. Jim Jordan interacts with fellow members as the House of Representatives prepares to vote on a new Speaker of the House at the Capitol Building, Oct. 17, 2023.
Win Mcnamee/Getty Images
But he has to contend with members such as Colorado's Ken Buck, who is staunchly anti-Jordan because of concerns he won't support Ukraine funding and because of his role in protesting the 2020 election results.
"I am not going to vote for Jim, I just think there's too much there at this point," Buck told ABC News. Buck said he feels so strongly "because I just don't think that we can win the presidential election if we have candidates and leaders in our party who won't admit that Donald Trump lost, who won't admit that the Republican Party wants to move forward."
Of course, Republicans such as Meuser and others argued that not voting in a speaker will also threaten GOP victories in the next election.
"I think it absolutely casts a bad cloud over the institution and Republicans," New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis told ABC News.
Still others, however, were more optimistic -- comparing this process to McCarthy's and using it to argue that Jordan is on track for success.
"Do you believe that at the end of the day, it's going to be Speaker Jordan?" ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott asked Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett.
"I do," he replied.
-ABC's Cheyenne Haslett
Oct 17, 2023, 4:26 PM EDT
GOP infighting continues
Jordan met with Scalise behind closed doors on Tuesday and asked for help to get the needed votes, a source told ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott. The source says Scalise wouldn't commit to helping Jordan.
Scalise was the conference's first choice for speaker in an internal contest last week, as he defeated Jordan 113-99. But he dropped out days later, amid opposition from holdouts who were backing Jordan.
Of the 20 Republicans who voted against Jordan in the first round, seven voted for Scalise.
Scalise cast his vote for Jordan.
Oct 17, 2023, 3:57 PM EDT
Jeffries urges GOP to join Dems in 'finding a bipartisan path forward'
ABC News asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries if he sees Republicans forging a way out of the speakership impasse today.
"It's not a complicated situation," Jeffries responded. "We just need traditional Republicans to break from the extremists and join us in finding a bipartisan path forward. We've said it over and over and over again. We are ready, willing and able to get together and reopen the House."
