US House Republican opponents of Jordan's speaker bid cite government shutdown worries

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two moderate Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives who have voted against Jim Jordan's bid for speaker said they did so out of concern that their hardline colleague did not have a clear plan to avoid a government shutdown next month.

THE TAKE

Representatives Nick LaLota and Anthony D'Esposito, who both represent suburban districts east of New York City, said that Jordan, of Ohio, had not articulated a clear plan for keeping government funded past Nov. 17, when a stopgap measure runs out.

LaLota said Jordan had told him his plan was to pass a bipartisan bill to end government shutdowns, but the New York lawmaker said he did not have confidence such a measure would pass.

Jordan himself is not a co-sponsor on the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

KEY QUOTES

"That's not a plan that inspires any confidence to me. That's an idea. But unless you have 217 votes to get behind that idea, it's not a winning idea," LaLota said in an interview.

D'Esposito said he was not sure that Jordan would support a stopgap measure known as a continuing resolution, an outcome becoming increasingly likely, adding: "none of us have crystal balls, but it's pretty clear where we're headed."

CONTEXT

* The prior Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was ousted after passing the current stopgap funding measure on Sept. 30 with Democratic support, angering hardline Republicans.

* Jordan voted against that measure, worrying moderates about future votes.

* Jordan was an architect of the 2013 shutdown over funding former President Barack Obama's Medicare reforms, and he supported the 2018 shutdown over funding for former President Donald Trump's border wall.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Washington; editing by Grant McCool)

By Moira Warburton