Trump urges GOP to support McCarthy and not "turn a great triumph" into "embarrassing defeat"
From CNN's Terence Burlij
Kevin McCarthy moves through the House chamber between votes on Tuesday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump is reaffirming his support for GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, calling on Republican House members to back the California Congressman for House speaker.
"It's now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN," Trump wrote in a post to his Truth Social platform.
After a day marked by chaos on the House floor, Trump urged Republicans not to "TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT."
As CNN reported Tuesday, the former president declined to issue a statement Monday reiterating his endorsement of McCarthy for speaker despite a behind-the-scenes effort from several McCarthy allies to get Trump to do so, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
9:10 a.m. ET, January 4, 2023
Conservative hardliners nominated Jim Jordan for speaker. Here's what to know about the Ohio lawmaker.
From CNN's Sonnet Swire
US Rep. Jim Jordan speaks to the media Tuesday after the third vote for speakership. (Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Jordan, in an effort to show party unity, nominated GOP leader Kevin McCarthy in the second round of voting. Speaking on the House floor Tuesday, Jordan said the differences among Republican lawmakers “pale in comparison” to the differences between Republicans and Democrats.
“We need to rally around him,” Jordan said of McCarthy.
The first order of House business as the 118th Congress convenes is the selection of a new speaker, but McCarthy is being stonewalled by a group of conservative hardliners. Because the GOP holds only a narrow majority, those hardliners hold more influence in the conference and have already denied McCarthy the votes necessary to secure the gavel on initial rounds of balloting.
Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida nominated Jordan in the second round, where the Ohio Republican earned 19 votes. Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who already voted twice against McCarthy, nominated Jordan for speaker in the third round, where he garnered 20 votes.
Jordan’s nomination by another member marks a new layer of leadership drama as Republicans take control of the House.
Key things to know about Jordan: Jordan is a high-ranking conservative and a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, serving as its first chair from 2015 to 2017, and as its vice chair since 2017. He was the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee from 2019 to 2020. He vacated that position to become the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, where he is expected to become chairman in the newly GOP-held House.
Jordan is a close ally of former President Donald Trump. After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and Trump refused to concede while making claims of election fraud, Jordan supported lawsuits to invalidate the election results and voted not to certify the Electoral College results.
8:33 a.m. ET, January 4, 2023
The House is back for another day of voting for a speaker. Here's what to know to get up to speed.
From CNN staff
The House arrives for another day of voting to elect a new speaker. It cannot do any business until then, including swearing in new members.
The chamber adjourned after three rounds of voting Tuesday, but Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy was unable to get the majority that would win him the job. He continued to negotiate Tuesday night, sources said, in an effort to get to 218 votes.
Here's what happened:
The candidates: Democrats have united behind caucus chair Rep. Hakeem Jeffries as the leader of the Democratic minority. The Republican side of the aisle is less united. After being chosen as the party's candidate in closed-door meetings ahead of the vote, McCarthy was nominated in all three ballot rounds. But there is opposition. Rep. Andy Biggs was nominated in the first round and Rep. Jim Jordan was nominated in the second and third rounds, even though Jordan says he's not interested in the role.
Opposition to McCarthy: The major opposition is coming from a handful of conservative lawmakers, many of whom are members of the House Freedom Caucus. They say they don't trust McCarthy to hold President Joe Biden or the Democrats accountable. They have refused any concessions McCarthy has offered in the weeks leading up to the first day of Congress. During the first vote, 19 lawmakers voted for someone other than McCarthy, 19 voted for Jordan during the second ballot and 20 voted for Jordan during the third ballot.
More to come: McCarthy has repeatedly said he is not withdrawing his name. A senior GOP source summed up his mentality as "never backing down." After McCarthy made concession after concession to the right flank, he is done negotiating — now his strategy is to grind down his opponents by staying in the race for as many ballots as it takes, the source added. "We stay in until we win," McCarthy said.
If not McCarthy, then who? The longer the fight drags on, the more uncertainty over whether he can win. The contentious, drawn-out fight threatens to deepen divides among House Republicans with McCarthy’s political career on the line. In the meantime, hardliners say they were not backing off their opposition — and, in fact, expect the opposition to grow.
How voting works: Since McCarthy did not get the 218 votes needed to win a majority, the House keeps voting until someone wins the majority. They voted three times Tuesday and then decided to adjourn until noon on Wednesday. The House does not kick off the new Congress until a speaker is elected. However, McCarthy can win with less than 218 votes. If enough people skip or vote "present," this would drop the threshold for a majority.
Once-in-a-century fight: This is the first time in 100 years the House speaker was not elected on the first ballot. But, since it's such a rare occurrence, there's not much of a playbook. In the most recent occurrence, the vote in 1923 was decided on the ninth ballot. Before that, the 1869 speaker vote lasted through 60 ballots over the course of two months.
