The longer that the office of Speaker of the House sits vacant, the more Kevin McCarthy looks like a strategic genius for holding the job as long as he did – and Matt Gaetz looks like a dummy.

We have long passed the point of a clown show in the Republican caucus. This morning, a third roll call vote was held for Speaker, and Jim Jordan lost again. And he was just bleeding off support as each round went on.

Jordan received 194 votes, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) won 210 votes.

Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) got six votes, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) got two votes and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) got eight votes. Nine Republicans voted for someone else.

The Republican opposition to Jordan on Friday was more than he had seen on the first and second ballots, a sign his support in the conference is waning.

Three Republicans flipped their votes to oppose him: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Tom Kean (R-N.J.) and Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.).

After the vote, Matt Gaetz and the “Gaetz 8” offered up themselves for censure or whatever punishment the caucus wanted, so long as Jordan would be elected speaker.

The 8 say they are “prepared to accept censure, suspension or removal” from the conference in return for Jordan being elected speaker

But 🤔 at Rep. Buck who voted against Jordan for past 3 ballots https://t.co/Qw0enVC1OU

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 20, 2023

But at this point, it has moved beyond just Matt Gaetz and his petty personal problems with Kevin McCarthy. The Republican caucus has too narrow of a majority to push through a single candidate. There is going to have to be compromise within the caucus itself. And it just wasn’t going to happen with Jim Jordan. When the caucus went behind closed doors, the frustration spilled over in secret ballot.

Clear difference in what you saw on the House floor

House Republicans increasingly wanted him to drop out but weren't willing to vote against him publicly https://t.co/swFO6V0SEC

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 20, 2023

And with that, Jordan was officially ousted as the Speaker nominee, and the chaos circus continues.

The Republican conference on Friday voted to no longer back House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as Speaker.

The secret ballot vote came hours after Jordan’s third failed ballot on the House floor. He had lost GOP support with each successive vote.

Moments later, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, announced his own candidacy for Speaker. He had floated, but ultimately decided against a run earlier this month.

Jordan was the GOP’s second shot at Speaker replacement. It had first narrowly nominated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) for the post, but resistance to his candidacy — mostly from Jordan supporters — forced him to withdraw just a day later.

Scalise on Friday said he would not mount another bid for Speaker.

Jordan’s decision leaves the House in chaos and stuck, even amid a war in Israel and with a looming shutdown deadline.

Republican lawmakers said they would hold a candidate forum on Monday and a secret ballot election for a new Speaker nominee Tuesday. The deadline to declare a candidacy for Speaker is Sunday at noon.

But it’s not clear at this point who could win over 217 Republicans.

I am of the opinion that at this point, as the Democrats enjoy their popcorn, that the Republican caucus needs to be sent to their room – in this case, the conference room – and they don’t come out until they have a Speaker nominee and 217 votes. This entire “taking a break for the weekend” is ridiculous. Get in there and figure it out. Who do you guys think you are – Joe Biden, hitting the beach yet again for a weekend getaway, while there are still Americans being held hostage in Gaza? Yes, two hostages have thankfully been released. THERE ARE MORE STILL BEING HELD CAPTIVE. This is no different than Barack Obama hitting the golf course after the footage of James Foley being beheaded by ISIS so rudely interrupted his vacation in 2014. But Biden gets to drool on the beach, being plied with ice cream, while House Republicans continue their pissing match over who gets to be nominated as Speaker of the House next.

Honestly, if Hakeem Jeffries ends up as Speaker, every single House Republican deserves to be fired. Pull your shit together, guys, and figure this out. At the rate you’re going, you won’t even HAVE a majority next time around, so this entire freaking argument will have been moot anyway!

This entire exercise has just been so incredibly stupid, and all because Matt Gaetz wanted some revenge on Kevin McCarthy, but didn’t have a plan for what came next. Pro tip: never blow up a bridge without knowing an alternate route first, dumbasses. Since I don’t have the power to ground the House GOP caucus, and feed them only bread and water and green beans until they come up with a name and the votes, I guess we have to wait until next week to learn in what new ways the House Republicans will continue to embarrass us all.

Featured image: Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH), official Congressional portrait, cropped, public domain