Jim Jordan allies' arm-twisting backfired in failed vote for House speaker

House Republicans put Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) forward for House speaker on Tuesday, but a larger-than-expected 20 Republicans voted for someone else, giving him 200 votes, far short of the 217 he needed to win the gavel. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) got 212 votes from his united Democratic caucus. Jordan vowed to "keep working" and hold another vote Wednesday, scrapping a planned second round Tuesday evening after it was clear he would fall short again, maybe even lose votes. 

The House has been without a speaker since a group of eight Republicans, mostly far-right Freedom Caucus hardliners, ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) two weeks ago. The GOP's first replacement candidate, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), withdrew last week after it became clear he didn't have enough GOP votes to succeed. McCarthy only won the seat after 15 rounds of voting over five days, and Jordan's supporters have expressed confidence that "consecutive public floor votes will force holdouts to flip their way," too, The Associated Press reported. 

Jordan and his allies had "hoped to work the holdouts through a mix of pleas for party unity, negotiations and a social-media fueled pressure campaign," but "the arm-twisting" was "already stirring a backlash and could cause more defections," The New York Times reported. In fact, "those tactics backfired," and "could soon doom his speakership push outright," Politico added. 

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Jordan's "most vocal GOP defectors" said they faced intense pressure to back him from "party bosses back home and national conservatives with big megaphones," including Fox News host Sean Hannity and Steve Bannon, Politico reported. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said "his wife even received multiple anonymous emails and texts saying: 'your husband better support Jim Jordan,'" and "even some of Jordan's supporters acknowledge that the aggressive moves have set him back."

With "Jordan at least initially stymied," some Republicans and Democrats "were intensifying quiet discussions about a potential solution that would somehow empower" unelected Speaker pro tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) "to conduct the business of the House even temporarily," the Times reported. "Some said they increasingly saw it as the only way out" of the embarrassing, paralyzing chaos of their leaderless House.