Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) predicted Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will lose more votes on the next House speaker ballot and said it’s time to throw in the towel.
“I believe he’s done. He needs to withdraw from this,” Bacon told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday. “He’s going to lose more votes tomorrow, I know it.”
Bacon said Jordan “doesn’t have any pathway forward” to 217 votes, the figure he needs to secure the gavel.
Jordan has lost two ballots so far. On Tuesday, 20 Republicans voted against him. That number grew to 22 on Wednesday’s vote.
In a separate interview on Fox News, Bacon said he was confident Jordan would lose five or six more votes on the next ballot.
Bacon voted for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who was ousted as speaker earlier this month, both times.
On Wednesday, he said his wife received multiple anonymous text messages warning him he’d better vote for Jordan.
Other Republicans also reported that they were targets of threats and intimidation tactics by Jordan allies and supporters, which appeared to backfire on the Ohio congressman.
Another vote is expected Thursday.
With the chamber still frozen, support is growing to expand the powers of Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry to act as a temporary speaker.
Bacon said he would back that.
“I support giving Patrick McHenry, the speaker pro tem, more responsibilities and authorities. We could give him authorities for budget, the border, Ukraine, Israel. We can do that, but it’s gonna take legislation to do so,” he said.