I don’t think politics matter to the market right now or at least they shouldn’t matter but earlier this week there was selling in equities after Jim Jordan lost his first vote for Speaker of the House.
That campaign currently looks like it has only slim hopes and will certainly need more time and in the meanwhile, the House will need to do business, including perhaps passing aid for Israel and avoiding a government shutdown in about a month.
A WSJ report highlights that some members are trying to empower current caretaker speaker Patrick McHenry. It notes that he would need support from Democrats and that they will want something in exchange.
While McHenry would be in charge, passing any measure to empower him would likely require Democratic votes, raising the possibility of a need to grant concessions to get them on board. For example, Democrats have suggested a rule change to enable legislation with significant bipartisan support to come to the House floor without having to go through the Rules Committee.
In any case, it doesn’t look like there will be any resolution today.
Update: Washington Post reporter Leigh Ann Caldwell reports that
Jordan is going to announce he will NOT hold a third vote as speaker now. He will get behind the plan to temporarily empower McHenry until Jan 3.
So there it is. Jordan will try to wrangle the votes to become speaker in the new year.