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Jim Jordan as their nominee to become the next speaker after he failed to win a majority three times this week, sending the party back to the drawing board.

The House Republican Conference voted on whether Jordan should remain the nominee in a closed-door meeting following an earlier vote on the House floor that made clear his support was eroding.

Voting by secret ballot, 86 members said Jordan should remain in the race, and more than 100 said he shouldn't, according to one lawmaker who was in the room.

The full House convened Friday morning to try to fill the speaker's vacancy yet again, more than two weeks after the historic ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy. Jordan received 194 votes in this round, including 200 in the first round of voting on Tuesday and 199 in the second round of voting on Wednesday. The number of Republicans who voted for the various non-Jordanian protest candidates rose from 20 to 22 to 25.

The three Republican lawmakers who supported Jordan in the previous runoff election but then voted against him were Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania), Thomas Keane Jr. (New Jersey), and Marcus Molinaro (New York). All 210 Democrats in attendance voted for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, maintaining the party's support for the third straight time.



Jordan lost the vote on whether to remain in the race.

Jordan lost a closed-door secret vote on whether he should remain in the race, with only 86 of his Republican colleagues saying he should remain in the race, according to Rep. Kat Cammack.

“Unfortunately, Jim is no longer a candidate. We will have to go back to the drawing board,” the lawmaker said. Kevin McCarthy, whose ouster as speaker more than two weeks ago prompted the current stalemate.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who had his own short-lived stint as the party's speaker nominee, said the party will reconvene Monday to consider other candidates.

House GOP voting on whether Jordan should drop his bid to be speaker

There is now a secret ballot underway in the Republican Conference's meeting about whether Jordan should drop his bid to be the next House speaker, according to two lawmakers in the room.

Gaetz, who led McCarthy rebellion, offers "pound of flesh" if holdouts back Jordan

From left, Reps. Eli Crane, Tim Burchett, Matt Gaetz and Bob Good talk to reporters after the House failed for the third time to elect Rep. Speaker of the House Jim Jordan near the Capitol on October 20, 2023.

From left, Rep. Eli Crane, Rep. Tim Burchett, Matt Gaetz, and Bob Good meet Rep. Jim Jordan as Speaker of the House for the third time in October. Talking to reporters after failing to elect . October 20, 2023, near the Capitol. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Republicans opposing former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have offered to punish themselves if the 25 opposing Republicans agree to support Jordan for speaker.

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who led the charge against McCarthy, said on the Capitol steps after the third vote that he and other lawmakers were willing to brandish swords to ensure Jordan had the gavel.

He said, “Eight of us have said that we are willing to accept censure, sanctions, suspension and expulsion from the Republican Conference. We of course will remain Republicans," Gaetz said. "But if what these holdouts need is a pound of our flesh, we're willing to give it to them in order to see them elect Jim Jordan for speaker."

Gaetz said he and the other seven anti-McCarthy lawmakers sent a letter to their colleagues urging them to support Jordan.

The other seven Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy were Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Matt Rosendale of Montana.

The letter Gaetz is circulating bears the names of all eight anti-McCarthy members, but a spokesman for Buck said his name was included erroneously. Buck has voted for Majority Leader Tom Emmer, not Jordan, in all three rounds of voting for speaker. “Congressman Buck did not agree to sign the letter and his name has since been removed,” a Buck spokesperson said. “His position has not changed.”



Who are the 25 Republicans who voted against Jordan? Jordan received significantly more Republican votes (25) than in the previous runoff, and three Republicans were added to the ranks of defectors.

The Republicans who previously supported Jordan and then voted against him, as well as the Republicans who supported him this time, are as follows:

Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania: Representative Patrick McHenry

Thomas Keene Jr., from New Jersey: McCarthy

Marcus Molinaro of New York: Former Congressman. Lee Zeldin

These are the Republicans who had previously voted against Jordan and did again, with who they voted for in the third round: