House Speaker Vote, Why We Care, And How RINOs Are Helping Democrats (again)

There was a second vote in the House of Representatives today for Speaker.

To win, one person needs to get 217 votes. This is possible with the existing Republicans in the House. However, RINOs and swamp Republicans (same thing really) keep casting votes to prevent Jim Jordan from winning.

RINOs are currently in discussion with Democrats on giving full Speaker power to the current temporary speaker Patrick McHenry, a RINO from North Carolina with a Liberty Score of F and a voting record of a Democrat. Jim Jordan on the other hand has a Liberty Score of A.

Learn why RINOs and Democrats are teaming up to prevent a conservative Speaker, how they do it, and what it takes for Jordan, or any Speaker, to win the vote.

How The House Speaker Election Works

The House of Representatives is based on population. The maximum number of Representatives is legally capped and is currently 435. Each Representative represents approximately 747,000 people.

Two Representatives, Republican Chris Stewart and Democrat David Cicilline both resigned so there are 433 members and two vacancies. This means that to get a majority, 217 votes are needed.

Republicans hold 221 seats and Democrats hold 212 seats. A Republican needs 217 votes so they can only lose four of the 221 Republican votes.

Yesterday, October 17, 2023 was the first vote for Speaker. In that vote, all 212 Democrats voted for Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York and the minority leader. Jim Jordan received only 200 votes, with 20 Republicans voting for someone else and three not voting at all.

In 1839, the vote for speaker changed from secret ballot to voting verbally in front of the House. Each member has their name called (in alphabetical order), they stand up, and say the name of the person they are voting for.

The Role Of House Speaker

The Constitution is very broad about the role of the Speaker. It says only in Article 1, Section 2 that “The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.”

The speaker has several important, and powerful, functions. Some basic things about the Speaker include being the negotiator with the Senate and the President and being the leader of the majority party in the House. The Speaker is also next in line to be President right after the Vice President.

The Real Power Of The House Speaker

However, one of, if not the most powerful thing the Speaker has is control over the United States Committee on Rules which sets the House’s legislative agenda. This Committee decides the rules for bills coming to the floor for debate, how long debates will last, and when they will happen.

There are 13 members on the Committee and the Speaker appoints 9 of them, giving the ruling party control of the legislative agenda. This is how, for example, a RINO or Democrat Speaker prevents good conservative legislation from even getting a vote.

This Committee is so powerful that even the official government website for the Committee says “In essence, so long as a majority of the House is willing to vote for a special rule, there is little that the Rules Committee cannot do.”

It is for this reason that a conservative must be elected as Speaker and why RINOs would rather let a Democrat be the speaker than a conservative.

First Vote For House Speaker

Here are the Republicans who voted against Jordan in the first vote (Monday, October 17, 2023)

1. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska voted for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
2. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon voted for McCarthy
3. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito of New York voted for former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York
4. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida voted for Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana
5. Rep. Jake Ellzey of Texas voted for Rep. Mike Garcia of California
6. Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York voted for Zeldin
7. Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida voted for McCarthy
8. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas voted for Scalise
9. Rep. Kay Granger of Texas voted for Scalise
10. Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania voted for Scalise
11. Rep. Jennifer Kiggans of Virginia voted for McCarthy
12. Rep. Nick LaLota of New York voted for Zeldin
13. Rep. Mike Lawler of New York voted for McCarthy
14. Rep. John Rutherford of Florida voted for Scalise
15. Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho voted for Scalise
16. Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas voted for Scalise
17. Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado voted for Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota
18. Rep. John James of Michigan voted for Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma
19. Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California voted for McCarthy
20. Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana voted for Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky

Second Vote For House Speaker

Here are the Republicans who voted against Jordan in the second vote (Tuesday, October 18, 2023)

1. Bacon voted for McCarthy
2. Buchanan for Donalds (new vote against Jordan from first ballot)
3. Buck for Emmer
4. Chavez-DeRemer for McCarthy
5. D’Esposito for Zeldin
6. Diaz-Balart for Scalise
7. Ellzey for Garcia
8. Ferguson for Scalise (new vote against Jordan)
9. Garbarino for Zeldin
10. Gimenez for McCarthy
11. Gonzales for Scalise
12. Granger for Scalise
13. John James for Candice Miller of Michigan
14. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania for Boehner
15. Kiggans for McCarthy
16. Lawler for McCarthy
17. LaLota for Zeldin
18. Miller-Meeks for Granger (new vote against Jordan)
19. Rutherford for Scalise
20. Simpson for Scalise
21. Stauber for Westerman (new vote against Jordan)
22. Womack for Scalise

Impact of Technicalities

The way the rules are written, it is possible for Jordan to be elected with less than 217 votes. This is because anyone who is absent, or votes “present,” is not included in the total.

Example. There are 433 representatives and three are absent during the vote. This means there are only 430 present. The majority of 430 is 216. This would be the number of votes needed to win.

However, it also means that anyone else, such as Jeffries, could win with that same number of votes as well.

Finally, there is nothing that says the Speaker must be a current or past member. This is why it would be possible for anyone to be elected as Speaker as long as they get enough votes.

Make Your Voice Heard

Please reach out to your representative and tell them how you want them to vote. If you don’t know who it is, or you know but don’t know the phone number, you can call the House operator at (202) 224-3121. Additionally, you can find your representative at the house.gov website by entering your zipcode.

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