Trump's ally no longer candidate for House Speaker
Republican congressmen voted by secret ballot to remove the candidacy of far-right Trump supporter Jim Jordan, who was running for speaker of the House of Representatives.
Source: European Pravda, citing CNN
Details: The decision to withdraw Jordan's candidacy was made after he failed to garner enough support in three rounds of voting for speaker of the lower house of Congress, instead losing votes with each new round.
Note: Jim Jordan is one of the most active defenders of former US President Donald Trump and an opponent of increasing aid for Ukraine.
This leaves the US House of Representatives without a speaker as the temporary funding for the US federal government ends in almost a month, and without the approval of budget legislation, the government faces a shutdown.
An alternative option to the election of a permanent speaker in the case of an impasse in Congress is the temporary extension of the powers of the acting speaker, Patrick McHenry. This is not supported by either himself (fearing a precedent), nor a large part of the Republicans.
Background:
- On 3 October, Kevin McCarthy resigned 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 working with Democrats under a "secret deal" to help Ukraine.
- The US House of Representatives cannot pass new laws, including aid to Ukraine, until a new speaker is elected. The US interim federal budget is intended to last only to mid-November, so Congress needs to address this issue to avoid a shutdown.
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