Congressman Jim Jordan, very close to former Republican President Donald Trump, failed to be elected head of the US House of Representatives in the first round of voting on Tuesday, plunging Congress into a crisis.
But he has decided to maintain his candidacy for the position of president of the Lower House for several rounds, which means he could win it. A second vote is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Congress has two chambers: the Senate, where President Joe Biden's Democrats are in the majority, and the House of Representatives, in the hands of Republicans.
The institution has not had a president since the historic dismissal of Kevin McCarthy on October 3, which deprived him of many of his prerogatives such as the adoption of measures to support Israel or Ukraine.
– Ukraine, Israel –
Because they have a majority, the conservatives are responsible for electing their president, but they have not agreed on a successor to McCarthy for two weeks.
Because they have a majority, the conservatives are responsible for electing their president, but they have not agreed on a successor to McCarthy for two weeks.
After numerous negotiations, Jordan, a member of the most conservative wing of the party, is currently the only Republican candidate in the running, but did not gain enough support during a vote in the plenary session in the chamber.
Twenty Republican congressmen, mostly moderates who criticize Jordan for his extreme positions, voted against him.
His detractors also reproach him for never managing to get even the slightest bill passed in his name despite being a congressman since 2006.
And by various rankings, he is considered one of the chamber's least productive lawmakers.
The election could last days. Kevin McCarthy, for example, had to fight for 15 rounds and make many concessions to achieve it.
Republicans want to avoid at all costs reliving this humiliating situation, captured at the beginning of the year by television across the country. So far, in vain.
– Mobilization for Israel –
In an institution still marked by the assault on the Capitol, Democrats denounce Jordan's ambiguous position on the 2020 presidential election, an election that Donald Trump still describes, without evidence, as "stolen."
Congressmen from Joe Biden's party, with a minority in the House, aligned themselves around the candidacy of their leader Hakeem Jeffries, but they did not obtain enough votes either.
Pressure is mounting to get the House back on track as the Senate prepares a package for Israel.
These funds will include “military, diplomatic, humanitarian and intelligence aid,” Democratic leader Chuck Schumer detailed on Tuesday, which he hopes will be adopted “in the coming weeks.”
The Senate is also scheduled to vote on a resolution condemning the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and debate on Wednesday the confirmation of a new ambassador to Israel.
"As Israel's closest ally, the United States must set an example by supporting its actions to defend itself for as long as it takes," insisted its Republican leader, Mitch McConnell.
