As lawmakers return to Capitol Hill on Monday, they will continue informal conversations about finding a bipartisan solution to filling the vacant speaker’s office.
But Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, the current GOP front-runner for the job, is aiming to schedule a floor vote as early as Tuesday, Punchbowl News reported on Sunday. That’s despite 55 House Republicans saying they wouldn’t vote for him on the floor, the report said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that “informal conversations” have been taking place on a bipartisan solution.
“When we get back to Washington tomorrow, it’s important to begin to formalize those discussions,” he said.
Jordan emerged as the latest GOP candidate on Friday after the House GOP conference voted 124-81 for him as their nominee. But like Majority Leader Steve Scalise before him, Jordan’s success is all but clear. Scalise ended his bid to win the gavel last week after failing to win over enough votes.
Lawmakers have scrambled to fill the speaker position for two weeks, as war broke out between Israel and Hamas and with a critical deadline to fund the federal government past an already extended date.
Without a speaker, the House is stymied in what it can accomplish, leading lawmakers last week trying to find a way around the stalemate. Jeffries, asked Sunday why formal conversations on a bipartisan solution haven’t happened yet, said: “That is on my House Republican colleagues. We have made clear, publicly and privately, that we are ready, willing, and able to enter into a bipartisan governing coalition.”
Ohio Republican Rep. Mike Turner told CBS News’ Face the Nation that he “prefers a Republican solution” to filling the role. But he conceded that if a few Republicans block the effort, “then obviously a deal would have to be done” with Democrats.
Write to Liz Moyer at liz.moyer@barrons.com
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