Vern Buchanan won’t support Jim Jordan for Speaker, as Florida lawmakers once again wield their sway

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan says he will not support House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan’s bid for House Speaker.

The Longboat Key Republican told ABC News that he was unhappy with the continuous and chaotic process for replacing ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“I don’t like how this has played out,” Buchanan said, according to an X post by reporter Ben Siegel.

The pushback from Buchanan comes as Jordan tries to bring about a consensus of the caucus. At a GOP conference vote this week, Jordan lost an internal vote to Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

Buchanan had endorsed Scalise quickly after the vote to remove McCarthy as Speaker.

“I am pleased to call Steve a true friend and know he will make us proud as the next Speaker of the House,” Buchanan said.

Scalise emerged as the victor in a GOP conference vote earlier this week with just seven-vote margin. Jordan and some of his supporters said they would support Scalise in a floor vote by the whole House, where Democrats are expected to vote as a block for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat.

But it became clear Scalise may still struggle to reach a 217-vote threshold to clinch the nomination. That would force a second ballot and potentially set off a series of events similar to the embarrassing 15 roll calls in January before McCarthy secured the Speaker’s gavel.

Facing that reality, Scalise announced late Thursday to the GOP conference he would no longer seek the gavel.

U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a St. Petersburg Republican, was among the first to show Scalise was leaking support following the conference vote. After voting for Jordan but promising to support Scalise on the floor, she backtracked and announced Thursday evening she would not follow through with that.

“There is no consensus candidate for Speaker,” she posted. “We need to stay in Washington till we figure this out. I will no longer be voting for Scalise. I don’t even think we make it to the floor.”

She intends to vote for Jordan, who has the support of a number of other Florida members. But it only will take a few dissenters to block Jordan from reaching the 217-threshold himself. Just 221 Republicans now serve in the House.

U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez, a Miami-Dade Republican, has maintained throughout the process that he plans to vote for McCarthy.

“As Republicans, we need to condemn the despicable coup that removed Speaker McCarthy,” he said.