The wall of Republicans who opposed Jim Jordan for House Speaker last week, when 55 members voted against him, is crumbling as Jordan mounts an extraordinary pressure campaign ahead of a full floor vote as early as Tuesday. Jordan, a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, was long considered a bomb-thrower rather than a dealmaker by his colleagues, including former Speaker John Boehner, who once described him as a “legislative terrorist.” But he has the endorsement of Donald Trump and, perhaps most importantly, essentially no competition for the job after Steve Scalise bowed out. 

As of this writing, Jordan was continuing to accumulate momentum as the numbers moved his way. Three holdouts from last week, Ann Wagner and Michael McCaul and Mike Rogers, fell in line on Monday. Other Republicans did the same, but these three members were most consequential because Wagner is a respected senior Republican member and will probably bring followers; and because McCaul and Rogers (who had to be physically restrained on the House floor while yelling at Matt Gaetz during the January speaker vote) are chairmen, respectively of the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committee.