White House on Jim Jordan’s struggle in Speaker vote: ‘They need to get their house in order’

The White House on Tuesday called for an end to the chaos as House Republicans struggle to elect a Speaker after their latest nominee, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), fell well short of clinching the gavel.

“We have been very clear that there’s a lot of business to get done for the American people, and they need to get their house in order. They need to stop the chaos and get to work and do their basic duty, which is deliver for the American people,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

The House has been without a leader since former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted earlier this month.

Jordan lost 20 GOP votes in the first ballot effort Tuesday, and plans for a second vote later that day were scrapped. The House is scheduled to hold a second Speakership vote at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

“It does not look good that we’re seeing chaos in Congress — in the House specifically — by Republicans. It doesn’t. It doesn’t look good; it doesn’t help. That’s why we keep saying that Republicans in the House need to … get themselves in order,” Jean-Pierre said.

“We have not seen a conference like this, a Republican conference, be so chaotic, at least not in my lifetime,” she added.

President Biden and officials have sought to distance themselves from the drama in the House while also highlighting that Republicans are solely responsible for it.

“We’ve been very clear about the Speaker’s race — the president has said he doesn’t have a vote in any of this,” Jean-Pierre said. “We’re going to let the process go forward.”

Jordan faces opposition from members worried about how his Speakership could negatively impact the 2024 election campaign and opponents are also upset over the unseating of McCarthy and the dismissal of Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.). 

Jean-Pierre continued Tuesday to call for the House to elect a Speaker, not mentioning Jordan or any other potential option by name.

“It does not look good, it is a problem, and that’s why we will continue to say they need to get their conference in order and select their leader,” she said. “We’ve been very clear: This is for them to fix.”

Her comments to reporters came during a briefing en route to Tel Aviv, where the president will visit amid the Israel-Hamas war. During the trip, Biden plans to talk to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet about what their needs are in terms of security assistance.

Then, the White House plans to ask Congress for an aid package to help Israel as early as this week, national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

He said that support for Israel and support for war-torn Ukraine are “important to our own national security interests” and “both of it is needed.”

The White House is expected to tie aid packages for Israel and Ukraine together to pass Congress, but Kirby didn’t preview the details of the supplemental request.