With Rep. Jim Jordan's (R-OH) bid for the speakership hanging by a thread, Punchbowl News reports that the final blow could come as soon as Wednesday from a fellow Ohio Republican.
Sources tell the publication that Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) is expected to file a motion should Jordan lose a second vote on Wednesday that would make Rep. Patrick McHenry a full speaker of the House on at least a temporary basis until Republicans can come up with a suitable alternative in the coming months.
"The resolution needs 217 votes, meaning it will almost certainly need Democratic votes to pass," the publication writes. "Republicans don’t anticipate negotiating with Democrats over the proposal — at least at the outset. We will have to see how Democrats react to the idea. But Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has floated the idea of supporting McHenry’s elevation."
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
Jordan was a highly controversial choice and many Republicans in swing-state districts expressed worries that voting for him could drag down their chances of winning reelection next year.
An internal Democratic strategy memo that leaked this week outlined how the party plans to make life miserable for Republicans if they made Jordan their speaker.
Among other things, the memo highlighted what it called examples of Jordan's "extremism" that the party will use to hammer away at vulnerable Republicans, including his efforts to illegally keep former President Donald Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election, his scorched-earth opposition tactics that have led to multiple government shutdowns, and his support for a nationwide abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest.