Republicans nominate Trump-backed Jim Jordan for speaker of paralysed US House
- The hardliner gets his shot at the gavel as the lower chamber of Congress enters its 10th day without a leader after McCarthy was ousted and Scalise dropped out
- Jordan is a darling of his party’s most conservative faction, but it remains to be seen if he can muster the ballots to win a full House vote
Republicans nominated conservative hardliner Jim Jordan as their candidate for speaker of the US House of Representatives on Friday, as the lower chamber of Congress entered the 10th day of a leadership vacuum that has paralysed Washington.
The party has been in disarray since right-wing rebels forced out Kevin McCarthy, leaving the Republican-controlled House unable to address mounting crises including a looming government shutdown and US ally Israel on a war footing.
Louisiana’s Steve Scalise was initially seen as the best hope for a new standard-bearer who could heal the party’s bitter divides and he beat Jordan to the nomination in a secret ballot earlier this week.
But the 59-year-old Ohioan, backed by former US president Donald Trump, gets a second chance after Scalise dropped out, as it became clear he lacked the 217 votes necessary to prevail in the full House.
Republicans preferred Jordan, a darling of the right but a divisive figure in more mainstream circles, over Georgia congressman Austin Scott in the Republicans’ second internal nomination vote of the week.