“We got 200 votes, you know, we picked up some today, a couple dropped off but they voted for me before,” Jordan told the New York Post after the second vote. “I think they come back again, so we’ll keep talking to members.”
Holdout Republicans have not rallied behind a specific alternative, but the two GOP representatives with the most votes behind Jordan were Majority Leader Steve Scalise and former speaker Kevin McCarthy, the latter of whom lost the speakership more than two weeks ago after hardline conservatives orchestrated his ouster.
Scalise and McCarthy voted for Jordan in both rounds.
Jordan, who is a founding member of the staunchly conservative House Freedom Caucus, currently chairs the House Judiciary Committee.
The committee during his tenure has led a high-profile investigation into an internal memo that originated within the Richmond, Virginia, branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which alleged links between “radical traditionalist” Catholics and the “far-right white nationalist movement.”
Although the FBI ordered that the memo be retracted as soon as it was leaked to the public, the committee found evidence that “multiple” FBI field offices were coordinating an investigation into traditionalist Catholics earlier this year. The committee’s investigation of the FBI is still ongoing.