Georgia lawmaker receives death threats as House ends Week 3 with no Speaker
Ferguson says threats "will never be tolerated"
A Georgia Republican Congressman who now opposes Jim Jordan’s speakership bid says he has gotten death threats as Congress ends Week 3 without a Speaker.
U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson, an ally of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, had supported Jordan in the first round of voting but voted against him in round two on Wednesday after the far-right favorite failed to win the gavel on the first ballot.
Ferguson, who lives in The Rock, called the threats “unacceptable and unforgivable” and said that they “will never be tolerated.” He said that he has been discussing these threats with Jordan all week.
“When the pressure campaigns and attacks on fellow members ramped up, it became clear to me that the House Republican Conference does not need a bully as the Speaker.”
Ferguson voted for Majority Leader and short-lived Speaker candidate Steve Scalise on Wednesday and said that he and his family started receiving death threats shortly after.
Don’t expect him to change his vote, either. “Jim Jordan's suit coat has a better shot of being worn for 3 hours than Jim does of getting Drew's vote for Speaker,” an adviser to Ferguson said.
As for the Speaker’s contest, Congress is now poised to end its third week with no Speaker following McCarthy’s historic ousting. The Republican majority has been unable to agree on a new Speaker or a path forward, leaving the House at a standstill at such a critical juncture.
President Joe Biden on Thursday formally asked Congress to approve a joint aid package for our allies in Israel and Ukraine as they fight grueling wars against extremist regimes. And the government is set to shut down in 28 days unless federal funding is extended, which means millions of government workers could start missing out on paychecks with cold weather and the holiday season right around the corner.
Jordan had initially planned to support expanding the powers of temporary Speaker Patrick McHenry while he worked to reassure his detractors, but that deal quickly fell apart at a heated closer-door Republican Conference meeting.
He is now teeing up a third Speaker ballot even though he does not have the votes. In fact, many outlets are expecting Jordan to continue losing support as the death threats and bullying tactics ramp up. It is unclear what he plans to do if he falls short again Friday. Does he grind this out through the weekend? Does he make key concessions to win over holdouts? Does he drop out?
Nevertheless, there is no need to sugarcoat what’s happening on Capitol Hill right now. The House Republican majority is in a leadership crisis and it has put the business of the American people on hold at the worst possible time.