Representative Tom Cole, an Ohio Republican, praised former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, a Democrat, while nominating Representative Jim Jordan for House speaker on Wednesday.
"I don't know anybody that's done more to highlight and talk about the border disaster that is underway right now as we speak," Cole said in reference to Jordan's initiatives in the House while nominating him before the second round of voting for the speaker. For the second time in as many days, Jordan didn't get enough votes to become speaker.
Cole then commended Jeh Johnson, who served during President Barak Obama's second term.
"I had the privilege of serving here when Jeh Johnson was secretary of homeland security. I have a very high opinion of Jeh Johnson," said Cole, who called Johnson "one of the finest public servants I ever met.
"And he was asked on one occasion to define what was the crisis on the southern border. Anytime you have more than 1,000 illegal entries a day, you have a crisis," Cole said citing Johnson. "We have 10 or 11 times that every single day and in that tide of humanity that's coming across, there is a boatload of fentanyl coming to kill tens of thousands of all of our constituents."
Jordan, also of Ohio, was named the Republican nominee for speaker during a conference vote on Friday but failed to garner the necessary votes needed on the House floor on Tuesday, when all 212 Democrats and 20 GOP members voted against him.
House Republicans have struggled to find a speaker that everyone supports after Representative Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, was voted out of the role on October 3.
Republican Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana was voted in as the GOP's nominee last week but quickly withdrew his nomination amid members of his party voicing their support for Jordan.
Representative Don Bacon, a prominent moderate Republican from Nebraska, was one of the 20 members of the GOP to vote against Jordan on Tuesday.
"We've had a minority of the majority dictate all of this, and it's unacceptable," he told reporters on Monday. "As an American, my main concern is we believe in the rule of law and fairness, and we had a small group of folks who broke our rules and got rid of Kevin and then a small group broke our rules and blocked Steve. Now they want us to follow the rules and support Jim."
Jordan lost even more support during the second round of voting on Wednesday, with 199 Republican votes out of the 221 GOP members. All 212 Democrats voted against him again.
Newsweek reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection via email and Jordan's office via phone for comment on Wednesday.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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