Jim Jordan Chipping Away at Holdouts to His Speaker Bid

The road is beginning to clear for Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to become the next House speaker, with a number of key moderates flipping in support of the Ohio Republican on Monday.

Jordan, who had 55 Republicans vote against him in a secret ballot on Friday, has started to narrow the holdouts he faces in the race. Three sources with knowledge of the race told The Messenger that Jordan has at least 10 lawmakers who will vote against him becoming the next speaker — and that number continues to dwindle.

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., who had been a Jordan detractor, announced on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday that he was now going to vote for Jordan to become speaker. Rogers, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he and Jordan had "two cordial, thoughtful, and productive conversations over the past two days."

"We agreed on the need for Congress to pass a strong NDAA, appropriations to fund our government's vital functions, and other important legislation like the Farm Bill," Rogers said, referring to national defense authorization legislation.

Rogers' support for Jordan was followed by three more holdouts who flipped in the direction of Jordan — Reps. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., and Ann Wagner, R-Mo., and Vern Buchanan, R-Fla.

Wagner is a staunch ally of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who defeated Jordan to become the GOP's speaker nominee last week but later dropped his bid after facing far-right roadblocks to winning a floor vote. Plus, Jordan never fully delivered his supporters for Scalise.

She also gave the nominating speech for Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., the Republican who surprisingly challenged Jordan for speaker last week.

"Jim Jordan and I spoke at length again this morning, and he has allayed my concerns about keeping the government open with conservative funding, the need for strong border security, our need for consistent international support in times of war and unrest, as well as the need for stronger protections against the scourge of human trafficking and child exploitation," Wagner said in a statement.

Buchanan said he was "deeply frustrated by the way this process has played out" but he indicated Jordan won him over in their phone conversation.

But as the obstacles to Jordan's speakership narrowed, it also became clear there were still some Republicans as of Monday morning who were still not supporting the chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., one of the most notable moderates in the House GOP, on Monday blasted the "social media spin and pressure campaign to elect a certain Republican."