Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has begun the steep climb to 217 votes to win House Speaker when he schedules a House floor vote tomorrow at noon [EST]. Jordan was some 55 votes short last Friday when he won the GOP nomination to eventually go to a floor vote to decide the next speaker. After Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted Oct. 3 by a motion to vacate by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl.) the GOP House was thrown into chaos, largely because of a lot of finger pointing against Geaetz for calling the no confidence vote. McCarthy would have survived only eight votes against him if he had a corresponding eight Democrats votes when 53-year-old House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefffries decided t oplay games, ordering his Democrat caucus to join the conservative GOP Freedom Caucus and vote yea to remove McCarthy. McCarthy worked feverishly with Democrat to Sept. 30 stop a government shutdown.
Over the weekend, Jordan worked the phones convincing House colleagues that he was not a rubber stamp for 77-year-old former President Donald Trump. With the House split on Trump in 2024, Jordan was viewed as Trump’s biggest backer in Congress. Jordan has defended Trump through his presidency and post-presidency to defend the Constitution and rule of law. Jordan was most concerned about the government weaponizing at the Department of Justice and FBI to go after Trump. Jordan’s Republican colleagues saw him as defending Trump, when, in fact, it was all about defending Trump’s right to free speech and due process. What kind of due process did Trump get when he was accused by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s fake Steele dossier as a Russian asset. Trump endured more abuse at the DOJ and FBI than any U.S. president.
Jordan sent a letter to all his House colleagues over the weekend, letting them know that he’ll spend every minute promoting the GOP conference, accomplishing everything advance top priorities, including funding the government, reinforcing the border and dealing with the wars in Ukraine and now Israel. “The principles that unite us as Republicans are far greater than the disagreements that divide us. And the differences between us and our Democratic colleagues vastly outweigh our internal divisions,” Jordan said in his letter. Whatever reservations some colleagues have about his ties to former President Donald Trump pale in comparison to his commitment to the Republican-led House. Jordan wants all his detractors to know that he’s out to advance the Republican House whether it involves Trump or not. Certain GOP House members saw Jordan as biased backing Trump.
All of Jordan’s GOP colleagues know that no one in the conference fights harder to advance the Republican cause than Jordan. He’s the most battle-tested Republican, undaunted by Democrat tricks, especially from House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffiries who sees everything as a partisan fight. Jeffries has his eyes fixed on taking back the House in 2024. House Republicans know that Democrats and their friends in the press have exploited current GOP leadership issues to disparage Republicans to 2024 voters. “The country and our conference cannot afford us attacking each other right now. It is time we unite to get back to work on behalf of the American people,” Jordan said. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Al.), Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, heard Jordan’s message an flipped his vote. Rogers strongly opposed Jordan as House speaker before flipping his vote today.
If Jordan flipped Rogers to his corner, there’s less opposition to the former Ohio State University wrestler, now using his pugilistic sills to advance the Republican agenda. Jordan called for a floor vote tomorrow because he knows the process, just like when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy went through 15 rounds of votes in January to finally to win the Speaker’s job. Votes behind closed doors don’t reflect the dynamics of pushing the conference into unity. “As Republicans, we are blessed to have an energetic conference comprised to members with varied backgrounds, experiences and skills—just like the country were represent . . “ Jordan said. Bringing Rogers into the fold with his clout with other detractors could bring around enough votes to push Jordan over the finish line. Believe it or not, Democrats would like to play more games, to keep the House Speaker’s job vacant.
Slowly but surely, House Republicans are beginning to see how lucky they are to have someone of Jordan’s caliber leading the GOP conference. Jordan possesses that rare trait of dogged determination with an affable personality, capable of charming the opposition. “We’ve discussed frustrations about the treatments of Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise and the events of the past month. You’ve been honest and open and I appreciate the candid conversations. I these conversations, we’ve also discussed your thoughts on how we can best move forward. And that we must move forward,” Jordan said. With so much on the line, the GOP conference looks poised to line up behind Jordan to get cracking on the GOP agenda before the government shuts down Nov. 17. As Republicans face another floor vote tomorrow, they may be getting ready to back Jordan to end the stalemate.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
