Happening this Wednesday: President Biden arrives in Israel and speaks with Netanyahu… Protests erupt in Middle East over hospital blast in Gaza… Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, fails in first vote to become speaker; House set to vote again at 11:00 am ET… And Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds confirmation hearing for Jack Lew, Biden’s pick to be U.S. ambassador to Israel.
But FIRST… It’s now been 15 days without a speaker of the House.
It all started on Oct. 3, when eight House Republicans, along with all Democrats, voted to oust Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
McCarthy’s sin with those eight Republicans: He worked with Democrats to strike a deal to keep the government open until mid-November.
Then the House’s No. 2 Republican, Steve Scalise, R-La., withdrew his bid to be speaker after being unable to corral the votes he needed to win the job.
“Our conference still has to come together and is not there. There are still some people that have their own agendas,” Scalise said. “This House of Representatives needs a speaker, and we need to open up the House again. But clearly, not everybody is there. And there are still schisms that have to get resolved.”
Then on Tuesday, the congressman who had finished second to Scalise in GOP conference votes for speaker — Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio — had 20 House Republicans voting against him.
That’s 12 more than the number who had originally ousted McCarthy, and those 20 Republicans cast votes instead for McCarthy, Scalise, former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., and a handful of other members.
“Tuesday’s failed vote proves that Jordan, the chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, still has lots of work to do to persuade holdouts,” per NBC’s Capitol Hill team. “His allies went into the vote Tuesday recognizing they might need multiple ballots to secure victory but with an air of confidence that enough Republicans would come around. That is now being tested.”
And now there’s talk — from former GOP Speakers Newt Gingrich and John Boehner — about empowering Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry to simply get the House working again.
Why all of this GOP chaos, instability and inaction matter?
“[B]ecause the House is operating with no elected speaker, it is effectively paralyzed. It can’t pass emergency military aid for Israel until lawmakers seat a new speaker. In addition, Congress must pass a spending bill to avert a government shutdown by mid-November,” NBC’s Scott Wong, Sahil Kapur and Julie Tsirkin reported — more than a week ago.
Headline of the day
The number of the day is … 200
That’s how many votes Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, received Tuesday in a floor vote that was supposed to determine the next House Speaker. He fell short of the 217 votes needed to be elected.
Jordan postponed another vote to Wednesday morning, NBC News’ Capitol Hill team reports. And Jordan told reporters on Tuesday afternoon, “We got to have a speaker, and it can’t be some deal with the Democrats. The American people don’t want that. They elected Republicans in a majority — a small majority, I get it.”
Democrats are already gearing up for a potential Speaker Jordan. Hours before Tuesday’s vote, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House Democrats’ campaign arm, crafted a memo urging Democratic lawmakers and candidates to tie moderate Republican lawmakers to Jordan’s more conservative and controversial actions, such NBC News’ Sahil Kapur reports.
“A Speaker Jordan means extremism and far-right priorities will govern the House of Representatives,” the memo said.
Eyes on 2024: Israel politics collides with campaign trail
President Biden heads to Israel Wednesday as the war is also colliding with the campaign trail at home.
On Tuesday, the White House called out former President Donald Trump’s recent pledge to expand his ban on immigrants from some countries, including Gaza. White House spokesman Andrew Bates said, “It is revolting and dangerous to tear people apart right now with cruel poison that undermines our basic values as Americans.”
Trump’s rivals have also been staking out positions on potential Gaza refugees, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis clashing with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. The pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down is launching a TV ad targeting Haley on the issue, The Messenger reports.
The 30-second spot features footage from DeSantis’ interview with NBC News’ Dasha Burns, where he criticizes Haley for “trying to be politically correct.”
As Republicans focus on Palestinian refugees, NBC News’ Julia Ainsley reports that it is already difficult for Palestinians to come to the U.S, writing that “the Biden administration has no plans to change the status quo.”
So how are voters feeling about the conflict? A new Quinnipiac University poll finds registered voters in both parties support sending weapons and military equipment to Israel, and believe supporting Israel is in the United States’ national interest.
In other campaign news…
Trump trials: Trump was back in New York court on Tuesday to watch the proceedings in the civil fraud trial involving the former president and his company. And in the federal election interference case, Trump’s attorneys are appealing a partial gag order barring Trump from publicly discussing witnesses, court staff and the prosecutors.
DeSantis’ donor problem: Politico unpacks a major problem facing the DeSantis campaign: most of the funds he raised so far come from donors who have given the maximum contribution for the primary.
Will he or won’t he: As Virginia GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin hosts a donor retreat this week who may want to find an alternative to Trump, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for Youngkin to mount a last-minute run for the White House as he faces “logistical campaign difficulties, ballot access hurdles and … skepticism from some Republican voters,” per the Associated Press.
Door No. 3: NBC’s Chuck Todd details a possible path for a third party presidential candidate, noting it involves “someone in our current political class who can channel both Samuel L. Jackson in ‘Snakes on a Plane’ and George Washington.” And Todd writes that retired Navy Adm. William McRaven is “facing an active effort to at least consider a third-party bid.”
“So freaking boring”: In a GOP primary dominated by former President Donald Trump, voters in key early states lament the decline in retail politics, Politico reports.
A new landscape: In the first Mississippi gubernatorial election since two 1890 election laws were cast aside, Black voters in the state could have outsized power in electing their next governor, per the New York Times.
She’s not running: Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., won’t seek re-election to a fourth term, NBC’s Rebecca Shabad reports.
ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world:
President Biden will no longer visit Jordan following his trip to Israel, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Peter Alexander and Rebecca Shabad reported Tuesday evening.
NBC’s Jonathan Allen, Peter Nicholas, Abigail Williams, Dan De Luce and Andrea Mitchell profile Secretary of State Antony Blinken, “the man tasked with keeping a lid on the Middle East.”
A Jan. 6 rioter who smashed a Capitol window and led rioters with a bullhorn was sentenced to more than four years in prison Tuesday. And former Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley was also sentenced Tuesday to 60 days in prison for his actions on Jan. 6.
