House paralysis continues as third Jim Jordan speaker vote today: LIVE

The anti-Jordan coalition is expected to grow on Thursday as the third vote on the speakership bid of the Ohio Republican is expected to hit the House floor.

Rep Steve Womack, one of Mr Jordan’s detractors, told Axios, “The expectation is … that there will be some others that will move away from the Jordan candidacy”.

“The chatter I’m hearing is about the need to move on,” he added.

Mr Womack estimated that between another three and five Republicans are expected to drop Mr Jordan, but the numbers could be higher.

The Arkansas Republican said that the “collective opinion” is that Mr Jordan “does not possess the skillsets needed to be an effective speaker”.

Rep Don Bacon of Nebraska was even more certain, telling Axios that “we know the names” of the new defectees.

“If we move to a third round, we already know the opposition is on track to grow,” Rep John Rutherford of Florida said. “It’s time for Rep. Jordan to understand this race is over.”

Even after losing two votes on the floor of the House, Mr Jordan told reporters that he’s planning on pushing ahead with his candidacy for the speakership.

“We got 200 votes. We picked up some today, a couple of them dropped off but they voted for me before, I think they’ll come back again. So we’ll keep talking to members, keep working on it,” Mr Jordan told the press, according to Politico, after getting 199 votes, losing four votes and gaining the support of two members.

The third vote is set to take place on Thursday.

Despite Mr McCarthy being ousted by eight members of his own party due to dissatisfaction with him, he told Fox News reporters that it was actually Democrats who “created this mess.”

“We wouldn’t be here if every single Democrat didn’t vote with eight Republicans to shut this place down,” Mr McCarthy said, despite the fact that Republicans retain a majority in the House.

Mr McCarthy’s theory about the speakership chaos struck a chord with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who compared the former speaker to spoiling hor d’oeuvres.

On Tuesday night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live the host said: “No, no, no we’re here today because your own party threw you out like a tray of salmon cakes from last weekend’s hometown buffet.”

On Wednesday morning, President Joe Biden arrived in Israel to express solidarity with the state after the deadly attack from Hamas. In addition, Mr Biden responded to an explosion at the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital in Gaza that provoked outrage by saying that US intelligence indicated the explosion was caused “by the other team.”

Meanwhile, back on American soil, the House of Representatives entered its third week without a speaker as Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH), the rightwing firebrand, failed to win enough votes to lead the lower chamber of Congress.

The split screen likely gives Mr Biden more than a small amount of glee, while many Americans see that his advanced age is not only a drawback. His 36 years as a US senator, particularly as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and his eight years as vice president, also give him wisdom and experience in handling international crises. Meanwhile, Republicans can’t even corral 217 votes to elect a speaker despite having the majority.

But what is being broadcast is just as notable as what isn’t being broadcast: news stories about former president Donald Trump. This isn’t for a dearth of coverage. As is always the case with the four-times-indicted and twice-impeached former president, a flurry of headlines always follow Mr Trump.

On Monday, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a partial gag order against the former president to prevent him from making “disparaging” or “inflammatory” comments about people or entities involved in his election interference case.

Opponents of Mr Jordan have revealed that they agreed on a strategy to increase their vote totals over the course of several ballots as a way to push the Ohian to drop his bid.

One GOP member who backed Mr Jordan on the first two votes said that a number of them hatched a plan to abandon Mr Jordan gradually to show that the opposition to his bid is building, according to CNN.

He said they “basically drew straws” to decide who would vote against Mr Jordan on the first ballot and who would joj the effort later.

Four Republicans dropped from the ranks supporting Mr Jordan on the second ballot, and the GOP member said more would follow if there’s a third vote.

Rep Mike Lawler, who voted against Mr Jordan on both ballots, told CNN that “it’s clear he doesn’t have the votes. Obviously it’s up to him if he wants to put it to a third ballot, I think you’ll see more folks dropping off on a third ballot”.

“I don’t see the outcome changing here,” he added. “I think it’s imperative that we empower Patrick McHenry to serve at least for the time being in that speaker role so that he can get the House moving again.”

“I continue to believe that Kevin McCarthy is the right person to lead this House. He never should have been removed as speaker,” Mr Lawler said. “Democrats need to look in the mirror here. They helped create this mess so they’re going to have to help get out of it. So if a resolution is put on the floor to give Patrick the ability to serve as a temporary speaker it would be the height of hypocrisy to vote against it.”

Republican Rep Mike Garcia told Axios that he’s pushing for “off-site” meetings of the GOP caucus instead of further “therapy” sessions.

“It sounds silly, but let’s go to Gettysburg or something … We need to sequester ourselves somewhere else outside the Beltway,” he added.

Rep Austin Scott, who put his name in the hat against Mr Jordan’s nomination, appeared on CNN attempting to blame Democrats for the situation in the House.

The next vote on the flailing speakership bid of Rep Jim Jordan has been pushed to tomorrow Thursday (19 October), according ton Politico.

Mr Jordan is refusing to drop his speakership bid even after losing two votes on the floor of the House.

“We got 200 votes. We picked up some today, a couple of them dropped off but they voted for me before, I think they’ll come back again. So we’ll keep talking to members, keep working on it,” Mr Jordan told the press, according to Politico.

On Wednesday, 22 Republicans voted against Mr Jordan – up from 20 on Tuesday. Four members joined the anti-Jordan coalition, while two who voted against him in the first vote went back into the fold to support him.

Reps Victoria Spartz and Doug LaMalfa both voted for Mr Jordan after not supporting him on the first ballot.

Rep Gus Bilirakis didn’t attend the vote on Tuesday but showed up on Wednesday to back Mr Jordan.

Mr Beyer referenced Matt Gertz of Media Matters, who frequently gets mistaken for Rep Matt Gaetz of Florida.