Elected Jim Jordan, Donald Trump’s lieutenant, failed again on Wednesday to be elected “speaker” in the American Congress, pushing the institution further into crisis.
No matter that President Biden, traveling to Israel, promised his historic ally his unwavering support in his war with Hamas: the House of Representatives, without a president for 15 days, is currently paralyzed, unable to vote on any envelope to realize these commitments.
The American Congress has two chambers: one, the Senate, is won by Joe Biden’s Democrats, but it is its lower house, in the hands of the Republicans, which is experiencing unprecedented chaos.
This institution has been without a president since the historic impeachment of Kevin McCarthy on October 3, depriving it of its main powers, including the adoption of laws.
The Republicans, responsible for electing the “speaker” of this chamber, are unable to agree, exposing their divisions in broad daylight, one year before the American presidential election.
Jordan tries his luck again
Ohio elected official Jim Jordan, a member of the most conservative fringe of the party and very close to Donald Trump, is currently the only Republican candidate vying for the perch.
But the fifty-year-old did not manage, first on Tuesday, then during a second vote on Wednesday, to obtain the support of enough of his peers to be elected at the head of the hemicycle.
Around twenty moderate elected officials criticize this pugnacious elected official for positions that are too extreme and for this reason refuse to elect him to the post of “speaker”.
In an institution still marked by the assault on the Capitol, the Democrats denounce the ambiguous position of Jim Jordan on the 2020 presidential election, an election that Donald Trump still describes, without proof, as “stolen”. They won’t help him get to the perch either.
This election could, however, be spread over several days: the dismissed “speaker” Kevin McCarthy had to fight for 15 rounds and swallow more than one snake to reach the perch in January.
The Republicans want at all costs to avoid reliving this humiliating sequence, broadcast at the beginning of the year on televisions across the country. So far, in vain.
The man with the bow tie
How will the conservatives get out of this crisis? Several scenarios are being studied by the parliamentary group.
Starting with the possibility of temporarily strengthening the powers of the interim “speaker”, Patrick McHenry.
The sole responsibility of this elected official from North Carolina – recognizable by the bow tie he always wears with his suits – is currently to organize the election of Kevin McCarthy’s successor.
Unless there is a surprise alliance between moderate Republicans and the Democratic Party, which has until now mainly been a spectator of these negotiations.
Urging Republicans to end “their civil war,” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called for forming “a coalition that transcends party lines.”