The U.S House is expected to vote on a new speaker Tuesday morning as Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio continues in his last-minute effort to attain enough support from fellow GOP members.
Rep. Trent Kelly, a Republican from Mississippi, said on Tuesday’s episode of The Gallo Show that while he plans to support Jordan, he is not convinced the speaker nominee has enough votes to secure the position – at least in the first round.
“I think we will at least go to two rounds,” Kelly said. “Jim Jordan still has some work to be done. I’ll be voting for him. I think most our delegation could. I would have voted for Scalise earlier and I voted for McCarthy earlier, but we will vote and see if he has the requisite number of votes.”
Jordan, who was nominated after Steve Scalise abandoned his speakership bid due to not enough GOP support, has spent the last four days trying to attain the necessary 217 votes.
Kelly believes “between five and fifteen” Republicans are currently opposed to Jordan or leaning against him. Florida Rep. Gus Bilirakis will not be present for the initial vote on Tuesday due to his mother’s passing, which takes away one possible vote in favor of Jordan.
“It’s just hard to tell because people are playing games, wanting concessions, wanting to be on TV, and a lithium of other reasons people are doing these things,” Kelly said. “If I worked at a daycare or kindergarten, I would not be around more childish people than I am with some of these people up here.”
The possible ascension of Jordan comes two weeks after a group of eight House Republicans, led by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, successfully campaigned to oust California Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the position.
Kelly, condemning his GOP peers who worked to remove McCarthy, noted that it is a completely different group of Republicans standing in the way of Jordan’s path to speakership. Those publicly against him include Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Mike Rogers of Alabama, and John Rutherford and Carlos Gimenez of Florida.
“You start with Matt Gaetz, eight Republicans did irreparable harm to this nation for selfish reasons,” Kelly continued. “Now, you have different people who are doing the same thing. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
The House has now been without a speaker for two weeks as a possible mid-November shutdown looms and conflict involving U.S. ally Israel continues in the Middle East. Tuesday’s vote, which is set to feature Jordan and Democratic nominee Hakeem Jeffries of New York, is set to begin at 11 a.m. CT.
