In the chaotic search for a new chairman of the US House of Representatives, the Republicans have now nominated the right-wing hardliner Jim Jordan. The ally of former US President Donald Trump prevailed against his rival Austin Scott in an internal vote by the Republican faction on Friday, party representatives announced. However, it is unclear whether Jordan will achieve the necessary majority in the plenary session of the Congressional Chamber.
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee was defeated by Majority Leader Steve Scalise in a group vote on Wednesday. But Scalise threw in the towel on Thursday evening after it became clear that he would not achieve the 217 votes necessary in the plenary session for election to the top of the Congressional chamber. Although the Republicans have 221 representatives, dozens of them did not want to support Scalise.
Jordan therefore ran again on Friday and prevailed against the little-known MP Scott in a vote behind closed doors. He wants to succeed his party colleague Kevin McCarthy, who was overthrown last week as the first chairman of the House of Representatives in US history in the wake of a revolt by right-wing hardliners in his own party.
The chaos among the divided Republicans has far-reaching consequences: without a chairman, the House of Representatives is largely paralyzed. This means, among other things, that Congress cannot decide on any further military aid for Israel, which is attacked by the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas, or Ukraine, which is attacked by Russia. The USA is also threatened with a so-called shutdown in mid-November without a budget solution.
