Jordan is set to lose a third vote even more badly. Will he look for an out?

Rep. Jim Jordan has lost two votes for speaker of the House and is slated to come back for a third vote on Thursday … maybe. Jordan dropped Republican support between vote one and vote two, with 20 Republicans voting against him the first time and 22 the second, and it’s projected to get worse for him. “Multiple GOP sources say that Jim Jordan is bleeding votes and is poised to lose even more Republicans if he goes through with a third ballot today. One GOP member who opposes Jordan says there are about 30 R no votes,” CNN’s Manu Raju tweeted Thursday morning. Surely he can see that his bullying efforts have failed and he’s going to lose again, so will he go through with it, or will he look for an out?

Punchbowl News reports that a resolution giving Rep. Patrick McHenry more authority as speaker pro tempore is gaining steam among Republicans and could be Jordan’s way to save face: “Passing the resolution would allow Jordan to effectively end his campaign for speaker without formally dropping out. Jordan can pledge to continue his run for speaker once McHenry’s term is up in January.”