Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan says he’s still running for House speaker and plans to talk to the Republican members who voted against his bid for the gavel.
“I’m still running for speaker, and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race. But I want to go talk with a few of my colleagues, particularly want to talk with the 20 individuals who voted against me, so that we can move forward and begin to work for the American people,” the Ohio Republican said.
He would not answer when asked if House lawmakers were going to the floor today.
Several House Republicans had told CNN earlier that Jordan supported a resolution to empower interim Speaker Patrick McHenry until January as Jordan works to shore up support for his own speakership bid. But Jordan appeared to back off that support in his remarks.
“We made the pitch to members on the resolution as a way to lower the temperature and get back to work. We decided that wasn’t where we’re going to go,” Jordan said.
Some House Republicans said that there would be another floor vote today to try and elect a speaker.
New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said that they would give Jordan “a couple of hours” to speak with holdouts before they go to the floor.
“I think that’s what we are trying, to give him a couple of hours to do now, and I think we will have a vote,” she said.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the effort to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker earlier this month, agreed.
“I think we’re going to have another Jim Jordan vote,” he said. “Today, I can’t wait to go vote for him.”
Gaetz added: “What I’m really happy with is this did not end with the desire to have speaker-lite or a ratified speaker pro tempore. It’s our obligation to elect a speaker, and I’m glad we were able to throw cold water on speaker-lite.”
