Jordan holds news conference on House speaker race after GOP holdouts prevented 3rd vote on Thursday

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in an early-morning press conference, says he is staying in the speaker race, and told reporters the House needs to get back to work — with a third speaker vote expected Friday as he forges ahead with his speaker bid.

Jordan spoke after he lost the first two rounds of ballots earlier this week, failing to gain the 217 votes needed to pick up the gavel. He could afford four Republican defections, but had significantly more than that, falling well short of the 217 needed.

On Friday, Jordan said the American people are “looking for House Republicans to lead and make change on these important issues.”

“We’ve got important work to do,” he said.

But Jordan said his solution is to get enough votes through the weekend to become House Speaker.

“In short we need to get to work for the American people. We cant do that if the House isn’t open and we can’t open the House until we get a speaker,” he said.

It is possible there could be multiple speaker votes today, and event votes tomorrow and Sunday if Jordan decides he wants to try to grind this out, potentially in hopes of wearing out the opposition.

Rep. Warren Davidson, a key Jordan ally, tweeted last night, “We’ve heard from our colleagues and the American people. Additional votes are expected through the weekend.”

Asked about the potential of multiple votes today, and votes Saturday and Sunday, a source familiar with planning told Fox News, “everything is on the table.” 

Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.