On Forbes Newsroom, Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) weighed in on Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) losing the first round of votes in the House speaker election on Tuesday.
“Jordan didn’t have the votes, and he’s going to have see if he can convince those individuals who did not vote for him the first time.”
Twenty Republican defectors voted for other present and past lawmakers, thus denying Jordan the Speaker’s gavel, and every Democrat voted for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). The Republicans’ alternative choices ranged from former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), to Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), and even former Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY).
Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC), who supported Jordan in the first round of voting, sounded a hopeful note, stating that this was only the first round, and conversations were happening Tuesday afternoon to attempt to get Jordan defectors to flip.
“I’m a surgeon,” Murphy told Forbes, “and if something is not working, then you try a different direction,” before adding “this was the first official vote for him to see if he can gather things up.”
Murphy predicted that Jordan would step down from consideration should he ultimately determine that his confirmation is an impossibility.
Jordan’s vote is only the second time in the last century that a lawmaker failed to be elected in the first round. The first came back in January 2023, when it took Kevin McCarthy 15 rounds of voting to secure the gavel.
Murphy says that he plans to vote for Jordan in the second round of voting, which will reportedly take place Wednesday morning at 11am ET.
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