Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives proved once again Tuesday that they are incompetent and incapable of governing, as they continued feuding and fighting with each other and failed to elect a speaker to lead the chamber.
Far-right extremist Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who was endorsed in the race for speaker by former President Donald Trump, picked up the support of 200 Republicans in a vote by the full House to elect a new speaker but fell 17 votes short of the majority he needed to get the job. Twenty anti-Jordan Republicans split their votes among seven other GOP candidates.
The top vote-getter in the race for speaker was Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic minority leader and the first Black person to ever lead a party caucus in the House or Senate. Jeffries received 212 votes – 12 more than Jordan – by winning the support of every Democrat in the chamber. But Jeffries stands virtually no chance of becoming speaker because he would need to get votes from five Republicans.
Republicans are planning another vote today to try to unite behind either Jordan or another member of their party to become speaker.
Relatively moderate Republicans in swing districts fear that if Jordan becomes speaker he will cost them their seats in the 2024 elections and enable Democrats to win majority control of the House. That fear is justified because Jordan has consistently put partisanship over patriotism, confrontation over compromise, and loyalty to Trump above loyalty to his constituents and the American people.
U.S. national security and the security of our key allies remain endangered as a result of the raging Republican civil war. Until the House elects a speaker it remains paralyzed and unable to vote on any bills, including vital measures to prevent…
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