Topline
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) said Wednesday she received “credible death threats” after voting against Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for House speaker, as Jordan struggles to unite the GOP after two failed speakership votes this week—and some Republican holdouts complain about mounting pressure to back him.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks speaks during a press conference at the Capitol on January 11, 2022.
Key Facts
Miller-Meeks—who backed Jordan in the first round of voting Tuesday—said in a statement she has gotten a “barrage of threatening calls” since shifting her support to Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) in a second vote on Wednesday.
The threats have been reported to authorities, Miller-Meeks said.
The congresswoman also said after Jordan fell short of a majority in Tuesday’s vote, “my initial concerns about threatening tactics of Jim Jordan’s supporters, including from members of Congress, increased despite assurances.”
She acknowledged voting against Jordan is “not popular at this time” but said she “will not bend to bullies,” calling for a “consensus candidate” for House speaker.
After Miller-Meeks’ statement was released, Jordan denounced threats against his colleagues: “No American should accost another for their beliefs,” he tweeted.
Miller-Meeks did not release any additional information on the nature of the death threats or specify who is investigating them; Forbes has reached out to the congresswoman’s office and the U.S. Capitol Police for comment.
Crucial Quote
“One thing I cannot stomach, or support is a bully,” Miller-Meeks said.
Key Background
Jordan received the House GOP’s nomination for speaker last week, as the party struggles to select a leader after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) became the first speaker in history to be voted out of the job earlier this month. But Jordan—a conservative firebrand and Trump ally known for his investigations into Democrats—has faced a growing number of defections by moderate Republicans, preventing him from winning the outright majority of House members necessary to take the speaker’s office. Some 20 Republicans voted for people other than Jordan on Tuesday and 22 voted against him in a second vote on Wednesday. Jordan has said he plans to keep fighting, but his path to a majority in the fractious House—which is divided narrowly between Democrats and Republicans—is unclear. Some moderates have pushed for an alternative or even suggested giving interim Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) more power so the House can return to legislative business. A handful of Republicans have also voted for Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who initially won the GOP nomination last week but abruptly dropped out, even as Scalise backs Jordan.
Tangent
Miller-Meeks isn’t the only Republican holdout to report heavy pressure from Jordan allies. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told Politico his wife has received texts and emails pushing her husband to vote for Jordan, and Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) told Semafor the strategy of Jordan’s backers has been to “attack the members who don’t agree with you” and “beat them into submission.” Rep. LaLota (R-N.Y.) called the move a “tactical error,” suggesting the strong-arming may have cost Jordan support.
Surprising Fact
This is now the second House speaker election in modern history to stretch into multiple rounds of voting. Earlier this year, McCarthy became the first speaker hopeful since the 1920s to face more than one round of balloting, after his race stretched into 15 votes. He finally won the speakership after promising a series of concessions to hard-right Republicans, including a rule change that allowed just one lawmaker to call for a vote to oust him—a policy Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) ultimately used to vote McCarthy out.