House Republicans voted behind closed doors to give up on Rep. Jim Jordan’s quest for speaker and will instead hold a forum on Monday for a new round of candidates.
The vote by secret ballot showed Mr. Jordan no longer had the support of the majority of the conference after losing three votes on the House floor.
It’s not clear who will be the new nominee. Candidates have until Sunday to declare they are running.
Mr. Jordan, of Ohio. is a favorite of hard-line conservatives but was unable to garner the 217 votes needed to win the gavel thanks to opposition from more than two dozen Republicans.
His opponents included many House appropriators who did not support his plans to aggressively reduce federal spending. Other holdouts would not back Mr. Jordan out of anger over the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, California Republican. He was pushed out on Oct. 3 by some of the same Republicans backing Mr. Jordan.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, Florida Republican and Jordan backer who led the effort to remove Mr. McCarthy, said Mr. Jordan was “knifed” by secret ballot.
“It’s as swampy as a swamp gets, and Jim Jordan deserves better than that,” Mr. Gaetz said.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.