(Washington) – Ohio elected official Jim Jordan, Donald Trump’s lieutenant, failed on Tuesday to be elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in the first round of crucial elections, pushing the institution into crisis.
But the 50-year-old will maintain his candidacy for the position of “Speaker of Parliament” for several rounds, which means that it is still possible for him to reach the presidential seat. A second vote is expected late Wednesday morning.
The US Congress consists of two chambers: the first, the Senate, is won by the Democrats, led by Joe Biden, while the other, the House of Representatives, is in the hands of the Republicans, which witnessed unprecedented chaos over a period of two weeks.
This institution has no longer had a “president” since the historic dismissal of Kevin McCarthy on October 3, depriving it of its main powers, including passing laws.
This comes even though President Joe Biden will demand a joint $100 billion envelope for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the migration crisis on the US-Mexico border, a source close to the matter told AFP.
Ukraine, Israel
With a majority in the House of Representatives and thus their responsibility to elect its speaker, the conservatives have been exposing their divisions in broad daylight over the appointment of a successor to Kevin McCarthy for two weeks.
Photography by Haiyun Jiang, New York Times
This institution has no longer had a “president” since the historic dismissal of Kevin McCarthy on October 3.
After several very slow negotiations, Ohio State Representative-elect Jim Jordan, very close to Donald Trump and a member of the more conservative end of the party, is currently the only Republican candidate in the race.
But he failed to win the support of enough of his peers to reach a voting seat in the council’s plenary session.
Twenty Republican elected officials, most of them moderates who criticize Jim Jordan for his extremist positions, voted against his nomination.
One notable fact pointed out by his critics: Jim Jordan was elected to Congress in 2006, and he never succeeded in getting even the slightest bill passed in his name. He is considered, by many rankings, one of the least productive elected officials in the House of Representatives.
But this election could stretch over several days: ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy had to fight 15 rounds and swallow more than one snake to get to his seat in January.
Republicans want, at all costs, to avoid a repeat of the humiliating scene captured on televisions across the country at the beginning of the year. So far, in vain.
Senate mobilizes for Israel
In an institution still marked by the attack on the Capitol, Democrats are denouncing Jim Jordan’s ambiguous position on the 2020 presidential election, an election that Donald Trump continues to describe, without evidence, as “stolen.”
The elected representatives of Joe Biden’s party, the minority in the House of Representatives, all lined up around the nomination of their leader Hakeem Jeffries, but they did not get enough votes to win the presidency either.
Pressure is mounting on the House of Representatives to return to work, as the Senate, the other chamber in Congress, prepares a large package for Israel.
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that this would include “military, diplomatic, humanitarian and intelligence assistance — everything Israel needs,” hoping it would be approved “within the next few weeks.”
The Senate is also scheduled to consider a resolution condemning Hamas and will discuss on Wednesday confirming the appointment of a new ambassador to Israel.
Its Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, insisted that “as Israel’s closest ally, the United States must set an example by supporting its actions to defend itself for as long as it takes.”
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