WASHINGTON D.C. (WLAX/WEUX) – Another swing and a miss. Jim Jordan failed for a second time to get the votes to become the next House Speaker, actually losing momentum with even more Republican holdouts. Over 20.

Jordan says: ‘I think it’s gonna end with hopefully a Republican speaker.”

Spartz says: “I don’t think he should drop out. I think we should go back to meeting and figure out what concerns, you know, people have.”

Republicans now must decide if they stick with Jordan or move on to someone else.

Donalds says: “Jim can go as many rounds as he chooses to and I’ll be right there with him.”

Gimenez says: “It doesn’t look good for him. I think we need to move on.”

And there’s talk of giving the temporary Speaker Patrick McHenry increased powers in the meantime, but, some say it’s a stall tactic and irresponsible.

Roy says: “To do that would be playing games with such an important position, the third in line to the, to the presidency.”

But, desperation is setting in, with the lower chamber speaker-less for more than two weeks, ever since Kevin McCarthy was canned by hard-liners.

The same wing of the party that tried to boost Jordan.

Waltz says: “This is enormously frustrating. Americans have a right to be frustrated.”

Democrats, meanwhile, say there is a way forward with their help.

Aguilar says: “While the Republican candidate for speaker is making late-night backroom deals to secure the gavel, Leader Jeffries has, once again, extended the hand of bipartisanship for a path forward.”

Jordan’s team says he’s going to keep trying and that could mean many more rounds of votes.

First News at Nine spoke with Wisconsin Congressman Derrick Van Orden to get his thoughts on Jim Jordan, and whether he thinks a Democrat could be voted in as Speaker. “Jim Jordan is an outstanding communicator. So someone has got to be able to take the messages from what’s happening here in Washington, D.C. and communicate them to everyday Americans so they understand what the heck is going on. And Jim has proven throughout the years that he is really capable of doing that. We’re going to exercise the responsibility that we’ve been given as a Republican majority to put in a Republican speaker so that we can pursue the Republican agenda that the American people voted us into office.”

Congressman Van Orden today also introduced the Veterans Education Transparency and Training or VETT Act, which is meant to explain what programs are available for veterans interested in higher education, along with helping in the application process.