Jim Jordan is giving up his bid to become Speaker of the US House of Representatives for now. He failed in two rounds of voting. His Republican faction is deeply divided over the search for a candidate for the third highest office in the USA.
A possible interim solution is emerging in the chaotic search for a new leader of the US House of Representatives. According to media reports on Thursday, Republican candidate Jim Jordan, who failed in two rounds of voting, is willing to temporarily forego a third round. Instead, the current acting chairman of the Chamber of Congress, Republican Patrick McHenry, could be given more powers by January.
This would at least temporarily resolve the current blockade in the House of Representatives and thus also enable new aid for Israel. However, it was initially completely unclear whether such an interim solution would actually come about.
The hardliner Jim Jordan
The news channel CNN and the Washington Post reported that supporters of the right-wing hardliner Jordan were against such action. They therefore want the ally of former President Donald Trump not to pause his candidacy, but to continue to strive for an immediate election.
Moderate Republicans, on the other hand, want Jordan to withdraw his candidacy entirely. The MP, known for his sharply right-wing positions and his aggressive political style, is also highly controversial within his own ranks.
The House of Representatives has been paralyzed for two and a half weeks: the previous Republican chairman, Kevin McCarthy, was deposed on October 3rd in the wake of a revolt by right-wing hardliners in his own party. Since then, the conservatives have been fighting over a successor to him.
The broken faction
Jordan, nominated by the Republican group, clearly missed the necessary majority in two votes in the plenary session on Tuesday and Wednesday. He even lost support from his party between the two rounds.
The chaos among the Republicans, who have a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, has far-reaching consequences: without a chairman, the parliamentary chamber is paralyzed when it comes to legislation. This means, among other things, that Congress cannot decide on any further military aid for Israel, which has been attacked by the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas, or Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia. The USA is also threatened with a so-called shutdown in mid-November without a solution to the budget dispute.
US President Joe Biden announced during a visit to Israel on Wednesday that he would ask Congress for new aid for the country during the week. He wanted to give a speech on Thursday evening in the White House on the Middle East conflict and the Russian war against Ukraine. It was expected that Biden would ask Congress for 100 billion dollars (around 95 billion euros) for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and the protection of the US border.
Note: This article has been updated
