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On Friday, the House faced a deadlock as Texas Republicans persisted in obstructing Jim Jordan’s candidacy for House speaker, preventing the Republicans from rallying behind the Ohio conservative.
In the third attempt this week to elect a new speaker, U.S. Representatives Kay Granger from Fort Worth, Tony Gonzales from San Antonio, and Jake Ellzey from Midlothian, along with 22 other Republicans and all Democrats present, voted against Jordan.
Granger and Gonzales maintained their support for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who had previously been a nominee for GOP speaker but withdrew from the race last week. On the other hand, Ellzey cast his vote for his friend and fellow veteran, Rep. Mike Garcia, from California.
On Wednesday, Granger stood by her endorsement of former speaker nominee Scalise.
“This was a vote of conscience and I stayed true to my principles. Intimidation and threats will not change my position,” Granger said in a post on social media.
Ellzey stated on Wednesday that he would withhold any comments regarding the vote “until this matter concludes.” Gonzales’ office did not provide any response to the requests for comment.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries received unanimous support from all Democrats present, including 12 Texans. However, Jordan’s support has dwindled since the initial round of voting on Monday, with 20 Republicans voting against him.
On Friday morning, the entire group of 25 Texas Republicans convened in a final attempt to bring together the conference, which holds the distinction of being the largest Republican voting bloc in the House among all states.
Reps. Wesley Hunt, a Republican from Houston, and Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat from McAllen, were both not present for the Friday vote. It is worth noting that Gonzalez was unable to attend due to his attendance at a funeral.
As the possibility of additional votes looms over the weekend, Republicans will closely monitor any absences as certain members return to their respective home states. In order to secure victory, a speaker must obtain a majority of votes from the present members. Hence, if a sufficient number of Republicans were absent, Democrats might seize the majority.
In the absence of any votes during the weekend, the House of Representatives will mark its third consecutive week without a leader due to the efforts of a group of Republicans who sought to remove former Speaker Kevin McCarthy on October 3. This situation of election uncertainty coincides with the crucial need for Congress to vote on providing assistance to Israel and Ukraine. However, if the House fails to elect a speaker by mid-November, it will lead to a government shutdown since federal funding will expire and appropriations cannot be approved.