Jim Jordan FALLS SHORT in first vote for House Speaker: Disaster for top conservative as MULTIPLE GOP colleagues vote against him and sink his bid to replace McCarthy in more embarrassing scenes in Congress

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan endured a disastrous loss in his first bid to become House Speaker in even more chaotic scenes from Congress.

Multiple colleagues voted against the firebrand GOP member and appeared to doom the opening vote before it even began. 

The Republicans have been embroiled in a civil war since McCarthy became the first speaker in history to be ousted by colleagues two weeks ago when eight rebel GOP members voted to remove him.

Jordan quickly lost the support of four GOP lawmakers minutes after the vote began – Reps. Don Bacon, Mario Diaz-Balart, Jake Ellzey and Anthony D’Esposito – tanking his first bid for speaker. 

The number of defectors continued to rise with more Republicans voting for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Whip Tom Emmer, Rep. Mike Garcia, Lee Zeldin and others not included on the speaker ballot. 

It is unclear if the Republican firebrand will move immediately for a second ballot, or if he will ask for time to get the 20 total Republican defectors who voted against him on his side.

Jordan could only afford to lose three Republican votes to get to a 217 majority with all Democrats expected to vote for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan endured a disastrous loss in his first bid to become House Speaker

Congress has been paralyzed for two weeks, unable to conduct any business

It was the first time a vote for speaker was taken on the House floor since Kevin McCarthy was ousted two weeks ago. 

Congress has been paralyzed, unable to conduct any business and with only a month until the government runs out of money again. The House is also unable to vote to provide desperately needed assistance to Israel after the brutal Hamas terror attack left over 1,300 civilians dead and at least 29 Americans killed.

House Freedom Caucus founder Jordan emerged as the favorite after Rep. Steve Scalise suddenly dropped out last Thursday. Jordan, who is seen as a far-right alternative to the more establishment Scalise, worked overtime over the weekend to try and flip Republicans to his side.

Former President Donald Trump endorsed Jordan for the top Republican position, and reiterated his support in a post to Truth Social Tuesday.

‘Jim Jordan will be a GREAT Speaker of the House. As everyone knows, I have long ago given him my Complete and Total Endorsement!’ 

McCarthy himself was urging Republican holdouts to vote for Jordan – or event vote ‘present’ to lower the threshold for the majority – so the chamber could quickly get back to business. He publicly backed Jordan in the recorded vote on the House floor. 

When asked by CNN on his way down to the House floor, Jordan said that members could be potentially voting all day on multiple ballots to confirm a Republican leader.

‘Whatever it takes to get a speaker today,’ Jordan said about whether he was ready to go as many rounds as former Speaker McCarthy – whose confirmation went five days and 15 rounds long in January.

In the first vote for McCarthy, 19 voted for a Republican other than him. By the 14th round of voting, only six holdouts remained.

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee also noted that he had not asked Trump to help with the whip count on his behalf.

He would not respond to a question about a demand by his fellow Republican Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., for Jordan to admit the 2020 presidential election wasn’t stolen.

On the floor, Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., gave a nominating speech for Jordan praising his work. 

‘He is an America First warrior who wins the toughest of fights – going after corruption and delivering accountability at the highest levels of government on behalf of WE THE PEOPLE.’

Democrats started chanting at the start of Rep. Pete Aguilar’s speech in support of Hakeem Jeffries – the sitting minority leader.

‘Hakeem, Hakeem, Hakeem’ started ringing out from the chamber by the enthusiastic Democrats.

They also began to yell out ‘he said no’ while Aguilar listed the many Democratic priorities Jordan has voted against, including Hurricane Sandy funding and others. 

Aguilar slammed Jordan as an ‘insurrection inciter’ – referring to his vote against certifying the 2020 election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania. 

Jordan and his allies spent the weekend pressuring holdouts to vote for him – with the unspoken threat that not doing so could put them at risk of a primary challenge given Jordan’s popularity with grassroots conservatives. 

Rep. Don Bacon was the first member to cast his vote for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy – shunning Jordan

Another McCarthy supporter Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer refused to vote for Jordan on the floor

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, the top contender in the race to be the next Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, talks with House colleagues

Jordan and his allies spent the weekend pressuring holdouts to vote for him

House Republican chaos continued on Tuesday as firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan failed to get enough votes to replace Kevin McCarthy as the new speaker

While the House has been in turmoil its larger battles have been on hold – one month from Tuesday government funding will run out again. House Republicans had hoped to pass 12 single-subject government funding bills by then, but it’s nearly guaranteed they’ll need another continuing resolution (CR) to punt the funding deadline down the road. 

McCarthy put a CR on the floor and it’s what prompted his ouster – Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., had long promised to put a motion to vacate on the floor if McCarthy extended government funding at 2023 levels rather than pushing through 12 separate bills. 

Even if the House can pass all its appropriations bills, then it has to work with the Senate to get spending legislation through the Democrat-led upper chamber. Jordan is not known for his ability to work across the aisle – another factor that could be drawing skepticism from moderates. 

The outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas has also added pressure as Congress must decide whether to offer more defense aid to Israel.

On the other hand, Congress is also divided over whether to offer Ukraine more aid in its fight against Russia.