GOP drops Jim Jordan as nominee after 3rd loss

WASHINGTON (CBS NEWS) — House Republicans voted to drop Rep. Jim Jordan as their nominee to become the next speaker after he failed to win a majority three times this week, sending the party back to the drawing board.

The House Republican Conference voted on whether Jordan should remain the nominee in a closed-door meeting following an earlier vote on the House floor that made clear his support was eroding.

Voting by secret ballot, 86 members said Jordan should remain in the race, and 112 said he shouldn’t, according to one lawmaker who was in the room.

The full House convened Friday morning to try to fill the speaker’s vacancy yet again, more than two weeks after the historic ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy. Jordan won 194 votes in this round, compared to 200 in the first round on Tuesday and 199 in the second on Wednesday. The number of Republicans voting for various non-Jordan protest candidates has grown from 20, to 22, to 25.

The three Republicans who voted against Jordan after supporting him in earlier rounds were Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Thomas Kean Jr. of New Jersey and Marcus Molinaro of New York.

All 210 Democrats present voted for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the third time in a row the party has remained united in support.