Who is Patrick McHenry? House Speaker frontrunner as Jim Jordan falls short again
Patrick McHenry is serving as interim Speaker while the House of Representatives consider who to elect.
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The House of Representatives was back in session again today and Jim Jordan suffered a huge blow as he failed to secure another votes for the role as Speaker.
Patrick McHenry is currently serving in an acting capacity, with limited powers. But the role has been vacant for a fortnight now as Republicans decide who will take over.
Jordan failed today to secure the vote at the second asking. He was opposed by 22 Republicans, two more than he lost in first round voting the day before.
Amid Democratic opposition and protracted deadlock within the GOP over supporting Jordan for the job, some Republicans have proposed granting McHenry the full powers of the job to allow the chamber to resume normal function.
In a secret-ballot vote on Friday after he was nominated, 55 Republicans said they would oppose Jordan on the House floor.
READ MORE: Steve Scalise drops out of race for House speaker
People close to Jordan said on Monday that the number of Republican holdouts had shrunken from around 50 to around 10 - still enough to block his ascension to Speaker.
Typically, a speaker has been elected after one floor vote. But if that proves impossible, the process can drag on indefinitely - for example, the recently ousted McCarthy only prevailed after five days and 15 votes.
Speaking about granting McHenry additional powers, Jordan said earlier on Wednesday: “I don't think that's the right way to go. I think we should get a Republican Speaker.
"I got 90 percent of the Republicans in the conference supporting me.”
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Who is Patrick McHenry?
Patrick McHenry is a prominent Republican politician who has served as the US Representative for North Carolina's 10th District since 2005.
He has served as a House Republican chief deputy whip from 2014 to 2019, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee from 2019 to 2023, and chair of the House Financial Services Committee since 2023.
McHenry has been serving as Speaker pro tempore of House of Representatives since October 3, following the ousting of Kevin McCarthy via a motion to vacate.
On Wednesday he said that despite movements to give him extra powers, McHenry said he would still support Jordan, telling CNN: “I’m going to the floor to support Jim Jordan.”
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