Democrat, led by 54-year-old House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, rejoiced in the chaos of House Republicans picking a new House Speaker after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was removed Oct. 6 after a motion to vacate by 41-year-old Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl.). Jeffries followed the advise of long-time Democrat operative from former President Bill Clinton days, 78-year-old James Carville to vote as a bloc to oust McCarthy. Carville thought it would maximize PR damage to the GOP before the 2024 presidential elections, giving Democrats a chance to retake the House. Carviille’s strategy his works for the moment as the GOP struggles to find a consensus candidate to replace McCarrthy. Looks at the moment like the GOP has coalesced around 58-year-old Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), though there’s nothing certain about the next full House vote.
Jordan needs 217 votes, almost all his Republican conference, to realize that nothing’s perfect, and, for the sake of the party, it’s good for the GOP to pick a speaker. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), 57, pulled his name from consideration after a head-count could not come up with the 217 votes needed to win. Jeffries will do nothing to help Republicans in any vote on the floor, voting, like they did to oust McCarthy. With Republicans in control of the House, the GOP wants to repair the damage from McCarthy getting ousted. Democrats hope to keep the chaos going as long as possible to prove to voters that the GOP can’t govern. But if Democrats really cared about the country, they’d want to help to put a GOP leader in place to manage funding for the Ukraine and new Israeli war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but, more importantly, the Nov. 17 budget deadline.
House Democrats and Republicans will have to agree on a new budget by Nov. 17 or the government will shut down. Democrats say they work for the people but you’d think helping the GOP have a new speaker would be part of that promise. But following Carville’s advice, Democrats did everything possible to sow chaos in the House. When McCarthy worked feverishly with Democrats to get a Sept. 30 stopgap bill to keep the government open, you’d think Democrats would have repaid McCarthy. Not one Democrat voted to save McCarthy’s job, voting with Gaetz and the conservative Freedom Caucus to get rid of McCarthy. How’s that supposed to advance 80-year-od President Joe Biden’s economic agenda, if there’s no House Speaker? So, Jeffries and Democrats are more interested in playing politics than dealing with Biden’s pressing economic and social priorities.
Jordan’s the last man standing with Scalise throwing in the towel. Scalise said he wasn’t interested in playing games but GOP reservations about Scalise had to do with his health. Scalise was shot and nearly killed in 2017, now walking with cane, more recently, suffers from multiple myeloma, a deadly blood cancer. So, when Scalise dropped out of the Speaker’s race, it was no real surprise. Most his GOP colleagues that supported him want him to take care of his health, not be thrown into the fire of House Speaker. Getting the GOP conference behind Jordan won’t be easy but isn’t impossible, largely because Jordan has a proven track record as a passionate advocate for conservative causes. His work as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has taken on some tough issues, especially weaponization of government, with the Department of Justice and FBI going after former President Donald Trump.
Within the GOP conference there are many hurt feelings over McCarthy’s ouster, largely directed at Gaetz and the Freedom Caucus. But the GOP would be better served turning the ire on Democrats who gaslighted McCarthy to get a stopgap bill to keep the government open. McCarthy knew that he would have kept his job had he let the government shut down to negotiate with Democrats to get a long-term spending bill. No one in the Freedom Caucus wanted to let Democrats play around in a continued budget resolution [CR]. McCarthy gambled and got burned for working with Democrats to keep the government going. Republicans shouldn’t blame Gaetz for a decision that McCarthy made at the time. Now McCarthy backs Jordan for the next House Speaker, something Republicans should accept. Republicans don’t have the luxury of time to pick the next House Speaker.
Republicans are lucky to have someone of Jordan’s caliber to accept House Speaker. Whether Jordan’s tenure lasts beyond the 2024 election is anyone’s guess. But if anyone can negotiate a good bargain with Democrats it’s Jordan, baptized by fire on all the pressing issues facing the House over the last six years. No one knows better than Jordan what’s at stake to preserve the Constitution and the rule of law. Watching Trump persecuted by the deep state since announcing for President in 2015, Jordan has watched the wheels come off of American democracy by the deep state. Jordan knows the costs to U.S. foreign policy and national security from the Ukraine War. When Republicans vote on the floor of House for the next Speaker they should look beyond petty grievances and show Jordan unified support.
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.
