WASHINGTON: Repu­bli­cans looked set to move on from hardline conservative Jim Jordan in their search for a new US House speaker on Thurs­day, as lawmakers mulled appoin­ting a temporary leader to steer them out of a civil war engulfing the party.

President Joe Biden has announced plans to ask Congress this week for “unprecedented” aid to help Israel, understood to be part of a proposed $100 billion package that will also provide funding for Ukraine and Taiwan.

But lawmakers have been bogged down in infighting that has already claimed the job of one speaker and has shut down the lower chamber of Congress for more than two weeks, preventing action on the international and domestic crises deman­ding their attention.

Jordan — a Donald Trump loyalist heavily implicated in the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election — suffered humiliating defeats on the House floor in his first two bids for the gavel.

The official line from the Ohio congressman was that he planned to plough ahead with a third vote, but multiple US media outlets reported that he has put the brakes on his speakership bid after acknowledging that he would continue to haemorrhage votes.

Jordan will instead throw his support behind a move to invest placeholder speaker Patrick McHenry, who currently is limited to ceremonial duties, with the full authority of the office until the end of the year.

Electing McHenry “speaker pro tem” appears to have enough support from the centre of both parties and would allow him to bring measures providing aid to Israel and possibly Ukraine to the floor, as well as addressing the budget.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2023