Jim Jordan fails to get a majority in first round of speaker vote

(CBS NEWS) — GOP Rep. Jim Jordan failed to secure the support needed to win the House speakership in the first round of voting on the floor of the lower chamber Tuesday, forcing additional ballots as Republicans work to elect a permanent leader.

Jordan lost 20 Republicans, winning just 200 votes, falling shy of the 217 needed. Democrats nominated Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who received 212 votes.

Six Republicans voted for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted on Oct. 3. Several others voted for Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who withdrew his name from consideration last week, and also for former Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Trump ally who didn’t run for reelection in 2022 when he ran for governor in New York.

Jordan told reporters ahead of the vote that voting would continue “until we get a speaker.” McCarthy had to endure 15 rounds of voting over four days before he was finally elected speaker.

The high-stakes vote was held by roll call, so every member’s vote was read in the mostly quiet chamber, save for some sporadic bursts of applause. Given Republicans’ slim majority, Jordan could not afford to lose more than four votes, which he had lost early in the alphabetical tallying.