WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Thursday morning backed a plan to give more power to the temporary speaker who replaced Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Jordan isn’t dropping his speaker bid, according to a source familiar with his thinking, but supports temporarily empowering the speaker pro tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), until January.
Republicans had tentatively planned to hold a third vote Thursday on Jordan’s speaker bid after he lost twice this week amid opposition from more than 20 of his Republican colleagues.
Conservative Republicans immediately denounced the plan to empower McHenry, which would have to be enacted through a resolution on the House floor. Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) told HuffPost his constituents don’t want a temporary speaker — they want Jordan.
“They want somebody that will represent them in a conservative, honest, truthful manner,” Crane said. “Jim Jordan is my choice, and 87% of my district wants Jim Jordan as Speaker
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said his caucus did not formally discuss how it would respond to a proposal to empower McHenry at a Democrats’ meeting Wednesday. Democratic votes would be needed if more than a handful of House Republicans balked at the idea.
“If there’s a real proposal in front of us, it will have to reconvene and have that conversation,” Jeffries said Wednesday.
The powers that McHenry has now as speaker pro tempore are subject to debate. The House rule that made McHenry the acting speaker limits him to exercising “such authorities of the Office of Speaker as may be necessary and appropriate” to get a permanent speaker elected.
Democrats have contended that McHenry’s power is limited because the rule was adopted in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, when lawmakers were worried about a mass casualty event that could impair Congress and result in it being unable to meet. Some Republicans are also wary of interpreting the rule as allowing for a strong acting speaker.
McHenry has mostly kept his duties limited to opening and closing the House chamber and overseeing the floor votes to elect a new speaker, closer to the weaker reading of his role.