A top U.S. House Democrat from Massachusetts warned her colleagues against “MAGA extremism” as the chamber tried for a third time to elect a new speaker on Friday.
As he has in two previous tries this week, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, and an ally of former President Donald Trump, could not pull together enough votes from his fellow Republicans to become the House’s next presiding officer.
House Democrats, meanwhile, continued to support U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. Jeffries took 210 votes to Jordan’s 194 votes -- less than the 199 he received during a second vote on Wednesday. Jordan needed 217 votes to take the gavel.
More than two-dozen lawmakers cast votes for some other candidate, according to a tally by MSNBC
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-5th District, who put Jeffries’ name into nomination on Friday, said the Empire State lawmaker represented “people-first leadership,” compared to the “MAGA extremism” embodied by Jordan that has “broken the Republican Party.”
“We want to make our own health care decisions — in consultation with our families, our doctors, and our faith — not with Jim Jordan,” Clark said during her floor speech, referring to Jordan’s hard-line opposition to abortion rights.
On Friday, as they have throughout the week, the other members of the Bay State’s all-Democrat House delegation remained firmly critical of Jordan.
“Jim Jordan has spent more time plotting how to overturn an election than passing legislation. He’s voted against veterans’ healthcare & supports the most extreme abortion restrictions,” U.S Rep. Seth Moulton, D-6th District, posted to X, formerly Twitter. “He is a divider, not a unifier.
Moulton’s comments came in response to a post by U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., who said lawmakers who planned to vote against Jordan “at least owe it to the American People to tell them the REAL REASON.”
In a post ahead of the vote, U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd District, reiterated the Democrats’ weeklong call for a “bipartisan path to reopen the House.”
Instead, “Republicans are putting their allegiance to their broken party over the country,” Trahan wrote.
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-1st District, the dean of the Bay State’s delegation, also decried the paralysis that’s gripped the House since the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., more than two weeks ago.
“The House has been at a standstill for 17 days because of Republicans’ chaos, conspiracies, and cuts. It’s time for them to walk away from extremism and do what’s best for the American people,” Neal posted to X.
U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-2nd District, slammed Jordan for “trying to threaten his way to the speakership. And Trump has radicalized many on the far right to support violence against members and our families.
“This is what Republicans enable when they vote for Jim Jordan. MAGA extremism at its worst. It’s sick,” McGovern said.
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Original story HERE.