The latest on the House speaker race

The House is expected to hold its next vote for speaker at 10 a.m. ET Friday, Rep. Jim Jordan's office told reporters.

As Rep. Jim Jordan works to inject some life back into his flailing speakership bid, three sources say he has made some progress with a small bloc of holdouts: New York Republicans.

If Jordan does win them over, it’s still not nearly enough to secure the speakership, given 22 Republicans voted against him on the second ballot and more are expected to oppose him on the third ballot. But Jordan is hoping to show some sign of progress ahead of the next vote, now planned for Friday.

Sources say Jordan tapped former New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin – who is close with the freshman New York Republicans — to help lean on the holdouts, some of whom named Zeldin on the floor during speaker votes this week. Zeldin was seen going into Jordan’s office Thursday night. The holdouts have also heard from conservative New York donors in recent days encouraging them to get on board with a Jordan speakership, sources say. 

Unlike the other holdouts, the New Yorkers have specific asks and priorities that are pertinent to their districts, such as the state and local tax deduction. 

But others are opposed to Jordan based on principle, and are dug in as threats on them continue – a sign of the uphill climb he is still facing.

Several House Republicans who oppose Rep. Jim Jordan's speakership bid left a closed-door meeting with the Ohio congressman Thursday saying they have not changed their minds. 

“I have not,” Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez said, adding that Jordan denied any wrongdoing when the holdouts brought up threats they have faced over their stance and the outside pressure campaign against them.

Gimenez also said that some of the members in attendance encouraged Jordan to drop out.

Florida Rep. John Rutherford said he remained a “no” on backing Jordan, as did Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly, who said nothing would change his mind but "we’ll see what happens.”

“He was not angry, he wasn’t mad, he just thanked everybody for being there. And I thought he handled it with a lot of class,” Kelly said, but added, “I don’t know that any minds changed."

One attendee told CNN that the purpose of the meeting was to make it crystal clear that “it’s over" and that Jordan should now know he has no path to become speaker. 

Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan, on the other hand, said after the meeting he would “take a look at” voting for Jordan but doubted there would be another floor vote soon. Buchanan backed Jordan for speaker on the first round but flipped on the second ballot yesterday.

“We’ll find out if there is any more votes,” Buchanan said. “I don’t think very much in the near future. It’s going to be a while. I don’t know – there’s a lot of discussion in there. It’s Jim’s decision to make.

Remember: Jordan — or any other GOP speaker candidate — can only afford to lose four Republican votes if all members are present and voting on the floor. A speaker needs a majority of the full House to be elected.

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan left a meeting Thursday with some of his Republican colleagues who remain opposed to his speakership bid, telling CNN, "We had a good discussion."

But Jordan wouldn't answer any other questions about the fate of his candidacy or if there would be another speaker floor vote tonight.

CNN previously reported that some Jordan holdouts had refused to meet with the speaker designee or to take his calls.

House Republicans emerged from a heated closed-door conference meeting earlier today with a plan to scrap a proposal to empower interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry and move forward with more floor votes for Jordan's quest for the speaker's gavel.

McHenry said no decision had been made on holding another speaker vote tonight.

“I haven’t made a decision yet,” the North Carolina Republican said.

Asked by CNN whether he supported a resolution that would expand his power as interim speaker, McHenry said, “We’re still working through where the conference is on electing a speaker.”

As Republicans struggle to coalesce around a candidate, Rep. Jim Jordan is meeting Thursday with GOP holdouts who oppose his speakership bid, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

Remember: Jordan — or any other GOP speaker candidate — can only afford to lose four Republican votes if all members are present and voting on the floor. A speaker needs a majority of the full House to be elected.

Some Jordan holdouts are refusing to meet with the speaker designee or to take his calls, sources told CNN — a sign of the uphill climb Jordan faces in winning over his opposition.  

Meanwhile, one of the Republicans who voted against Jordan told members during a closed-door meeting today that they had to have a law enforcement officer stationed at their daughter’s school because of threats this member has been getting.

Amid the ongoing chaos in the speaker-less House, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz defended his decision to lead the effort to oust Kevin McCarthy from his speakership but did not articulate what he got out of it besides removing the California Republican from the position. 

“We’re shaking up Washington, DC. We’re breaking the fever. And, you know what, it’s messy. But the only reason people think there’s chaos in this town right now is because the special interests aren’t in control any more. I think we’re going to have an upgrade on the position of speaker of the House,” Gaetz told CNN. 

He added: “This is what it’s supposed to be: It’s not clean, it’s not orderly.” 

When pressed by CNN that the current paralysis in the chamber means that members can’t legislate, Gaetz said: “There’s a lot of legislation we shouldn’t be considering that this may be blocking. So I wasn’t too thrilled with the legislation we were passing in the first place. So I don’t much mind taking a few days to ensure that we’ve got someone in the position with broader credibility than Kevin McCarthy had.” 

Gaetz also addressed reports that McCarthy had yelled at him during a House GOP conference meeting earlier today and that Illinois Rep. Mike Bost then cursed at him.

“I’m a lawyer, not a baker, so I don’t get too emotional about the presentation of arguments and how we ought to consider things. But we got some folks here who have a different view. I don’t think too much of it,” the Florida Republican said. 

Gaetz also called Bost a “fine gentleman” who sometimes gets emotional but noted that he had apologized.

The House GOP’s current top leaders – Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik – all stood firm at a conference meeting today against a resolution the would have empowered interim Speaker Patrick McHenry, sources tell CNN, putting them at odds with Jim Jordan and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Jordan, the current GOP nominee for speaker, and McCarthy had initially spoken up in favor of the idea during the closed-door meeting. But Stefanik, Scalise and Emmer remained opposed, sources said.

It’s just another example of how the divisions within the GOP have reached its upper ranks. In particular, there has been tension between Scalise supporters and Jordan's and McCarthy’s camps as the speakership crisis plays out.

House Republicans emerged from today's meeting, which went on for more than three hours, with a plan to scrap the interim speaker resolution and move forward with more floor votes for Jordan's speakership bid.

Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a major Jim Jordan supporter, said Thursday that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has not offered to give a nominating speech for Jordan, as the speaker designee struggles to lock down Scalise's allies.

CNN was first to report earlier this week that Jordan had asked Scalise to give a nominating speech on his behalf but that Scalise was noncommittal.

When Scalise had been the GOP nominee for speaker earlier this month, Jordan had offered to give his nominating speech. A huge faction of Jordan’s current opposition within the GOP conference is made up of Scalise supporters, and Jordan allies are frustrated that the majority leader hasn’t done more to bring members onto Jordan’s side. 

“I don’t know about any of those conversations. I wasn’t privy to them” Massie said when asked about CNN’s reporting. “It seems like it’d be to his advantage politically.” 

Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko, a supporter of Jim Jordan's bid for House speaker, said the Ohio Republican would need to "step aside" if he can't secure the floor votes needed to win the gavel.

“I’ve supported him. I’ll continue to support him," the Arizona congresswoman said. "But if he does not have the votes, which it looks like he doesn’t, then we need to go on to the next candidate.”

Lesko, who announced earlier this week that she is retiring at the end of this Congress, said there was "a lot of tension between the members" at the closed-door meeting of the House GOP conference earlier today.

Lesko also said she had "real doubts" about a proposed resolution to expand the powers of interim Speaker Patrick McHenry. Several House Republicans said earlier that Jordan backed the proposal to empower McHenry until January as the speaker designee worked to shore up support for his own bid.

"It gives benefit to Jim Jordan. Even though I’ve supported Jim Jordan, it’s not fair in my view to do that and then give him more time because the other candidates haven’t had that time," Lesko said.

“I have real doubts about it,” she said when asked about empowering the speaker pro temp. “I also think it gives benefit to Jim Jordan. Even though I’ve supported Jim Jordan, it’s not fair in my view to do that and then give him more time because the other candidates haven’t had that time.”