Jordan hones pitch before third bid to become speaker: ending House chaos best way to help Israel

GOP Rep. Jim Jordan on Friday honed his pitch to become House speaker before his third try, saying electing somebody to lead the chamber is the best way to keep the United States moving forward and help Israel in its war against the Hamas terror group.

In an 8 a.m. press conference, hours before Congress typical begins its official business, Jordan said Congress cannot evaluate or act on the plan President Biden announced Wednesday night, in a primetime address to Americans, to get Capitol Hill to pass a measure to give over $105 billion to Israel and Ukraine. 

"We need to get the House open so we can evaluate the package," Jordan said in response to a reporter's question on the Biden plan.

The third round of voting for House members on the chamber floor is expected to start at 10 a.m.

Jordan now appears to be about 20 votes shy of getting a simple majority – 217 votes – to become speaker.

About eight of the House Republican Conference's most hard-right members ousted California GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker over two weeks ago.

"The fastest way to get to work for the American people is to elect a speaker so the House can be open and we can get things done," Jordan said.

The House Judiciary Committee chairman and hero the GOP's far right, has over the course of the first to rounds of balloting lost votes.

"We picked up a few and we lost a few. I think the ones we lost can come back," the Ohio lawmaker also said during the press conference in which he argued America's pursuit of greatness is like the Wright brothers pioneering aviation in his home state.

"There's been multiple rounds of votes for the speaker before," Jordan continued. "We all know that. I just know that we need to get the speaker as soon as possible."