In a secret ballot Friday afternoon, House Republicans voted 152-55 and selected House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as Speaker nominee. Jordon won out over Georgia Republican Rep. Austin Scott after previously losing himself to Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

Scalise announced Thursday that he ended his bid to become the next House Speaker after it became apparent that he would not be able secure the needed 217 votes in a floor vote by the entire GOP conference.

Jordan will attempt to unite his GOP colleagues in the deeply divided House majority although his selection as nominee was met with immediate opposition including several supporters of House Majority Leader Scalise, and who have vowed to oppose Jordan at all costs.

Like Scalise, Jordon will need 217 of 221 Republicans to vote for him. He can only afford to lose five votes.

Leader of the House Democratic Caucus and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, (D-NY) speaking on the steps of the Capitol with House Democrats arrayed behind him said of Jordon, a prominent ally of former President Trump:

“House Republicans have just elected a speaker nominee who in 16 years in congress hasn’t passed a single bill, because his focus has not been on the American people, his focus has been on peddling lies and conspiracy theories and division.”

Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) said he will be a no on Jordan’s Speakership on the House floor — and warned that the Ohio Republican has a tough road ahead to build support.

The lack of a Speaker comes at a critical time as without appropriations measures the U.S. will be unable to send more aid to the Israelis fighting Hamas in Gaza in the war that has broken out and the American nation is rapidly approaching another government shutdown deadline as the current temporary funding to keep the government funded will expire in under thirty days.

Jordon’s ties to Trump has proven problematic. Jeffries lambasted the Republicans for choosing what he termed the chairman of the “Chaos Caucus” – a reference to Jordan’s role as a leader and founder in the hardline House Freedom Caucus, a group that former Republican Speaker John Boehner once labeled “legislative terrorists.”

“House Republicans now have a choice,” Jeffries said. “On the one hand, House Republicans continue to triple down on the chaos, the dysfunction and the extremism that has been visited upon the American people.”

“On the other hand, traditional Republicans can break away from the extremism, partner with Democrats on an enlightened bipartisan path forward so we can end the recklessness and get back to doing the business of the American people,” the House Minority Leader added.

Axios reported Friday that former congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) warned Friday that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) ascending to become House Speaker could cost the party their majority in the chamber.

On a social media post Cheney said: “Jim Jordan was involved in Trump’s conspiracy to steal the election and seize power; he urged that Pence refuse to count lawful electoral votes. If Rs nominate Jordan to be Speaker, they will be abandoning the Constitution. They’ll lose the House majority and they’ll deserve to.”

Jim Jordan was involved in Trump's conspiracy to steal the election and seize power; he urged that Pence refuse to count lawful electoral votes. If Rs nominate Jordan to be Speaker, they will be abandoning the Constitution. They’ll lose the House majority and they’ll deserve to.

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) October 13, 2023

Although House Democrats are opposed to a Jordon speakership and are not generally inclined to offer a path out of the fight, Politico reported Friday after the vote selecting Jordon, that four top centrist Democrats sent a letter to Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-NC),  floating a way to giving him “temporary, expanded authorities” — in exchange for concessions.

In a letter to McHenry that was obtained by POLITICO, Democrats told him they support giving him “temporary, expanded authorities” that would allow the House to take up the most urgent bills — namely, government funding plans.

POLITICO reported that specifically, the Democrats are proposing to let McHenry bring up any emergency aid for Ukraine or Israel, a short-term bill that extends government funding through Jan. 11, or general consideration of fiscal 2024 spending bills. Those powers should be limited to 15-day increments, they proposed, with extensions possible if the House GOP continues to remain without a leader.

In exchange, the Democratic quartet suggested, their party would be allowed to fill up 50 percent of the House’s suspension calendar — which is reserved for noncontroversial bills and requires two-thirds votes for passage, not simple majorities.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) said finding a short-term solution to get legislation passed isn’t “about a win” for the Democrats.

“I’m dead serious when I say this, like this isn’t really about a win. This place is not functioning,” she told reporters late Friday.

Jordon has a lengthy anti-LGBTQ+ record since first being elected to the House in 2006 to represent a deeply conservative rural district in northern Ohio, including:

• Voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and requires the U.S. federal government and all U.S. states and territories to recognize the validity of same-sex and interracial civil marriages in the United States. Jordan claims that the act wasn’t necessary because the Supreme Court is not going to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 decision that legalized marriage equality in all 50 states. He also claimed the bill was an attempt to delegitimize the Supreme Court. The law went into effect in December 2022. 
• Accused by former wrestlers he coached more than two decades ago at Ohio State University of failing to stop the team doctor from molesting them and other students.
• Led the House Republicans in debate against the Equality Act, a bill to expand anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people. He entered into the record the statement against the legislation from Log Cabin Republicans, which called the bill “insidious” and described the “extreme changes it will make would irreparably harm America…” 
• Introduced a bill in 2009 that would disallow Washington, D.C., from recognizing gay marriages performed legally elsewhere, in response to D.C.’s city council voting to recognize those marriages.
• Named in Human Rights Campaign’s “Hall of Shame” in 2014, a report that identifies “elected officials as the most anti-equality members of Congress by looking at their voting records in this and previous Congresses, their introduction and co-sponsorships of anti-LGBT legislation, and their public statements.”
• Led the fight to try to block the District of Columbia from recognizing same-sex marriages.