Republican opposed to providing aid for Ukraine loses support in congressional speaker election
During his third attempt at being elected speaker of the US House of Representatives, Jim Jordan, a far-right US Republican politician, gained the support of 194 party members, losing three more votes for his candidacy.
Source: This was reported by European Pravda
Details: In a vote on Friday 20 October, 25 Republican members of the lower house of Congress voted against Jordan, compared to the 20 and 22 votes during the first and second rounds earlier this week.
Despite the loss of support, the politician said the day before that he would continue to attempt to claim speakership, hoping to convince party members to support him.
The alternative option, a temporary expansion of powers of acting speaker Patrick McHenry, is not supported by either himself (fearing precedent) nor a significant part of the Republicans.
Jim Jordan is one of the most active defenders of former US President Donald Trump and an opponent of increasing assistance to Ukraine.
On 3 October, Kevin McCarthy lost his position as Speaker of the House of Representatives. This happened under pressure from the far-right wing of his Republican Party, where McCarthy was accused of collaborating with Democrats and making a "secret deal" to help Ukraine.
At the same time, the US House of Representatives cannot pass new laws, including those on assistance to Ukraine, until a new speaker is elected. The temporary US federal budget must be calculated by mid-November, so in order to avoid a potential shutdown, Congress must solve this problem.
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