Sent home for the weekend with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) winning the vote for House Speaker nominee, House Republicans have some soul searching before returning and beginning a floor vote to finally approve a new House Speaker. When Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted [116-110] as House Speaker Oct. 3, his backers turned their ire on Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl.) who initiated a motion to vacate. While a total of 8 Republicans including Gaetz, all from the conservative Freed Caucus, voted to oust McCarthy, the real culprits were House Democrats, all voting as a bloc under orders from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to oust McCarthy. Imagine that, the liberal House Democrat minority voted with the most conservative faction of the Republican Party. Jeffries listened to 78-year-old Democrat operative James Carville who told Jeffries to give the GOP a big fat black eye.
Carville’s idea was simple, make the GOP look to 2024 voters like the can’t govern or, even worse, in chaos. Well, Carville’s plan worked for the short-term but presents problems for Democrats going forward. Jeffries could have told the Democrat Caucus to simply vote their conscience not voting as a bloc to get rid of McCarthy. After all, McCarthy worked closely with Jeffries Sept. 30 to hastily cobble together a stopgap bill, signed by 80-year-old President Joe Biden, to stop a government shutdown. McCarthy really thought working across the aisle was the best way to keep the government running, salaries going out to U.S. service mean and women, not mention 1,689,996 federal employees. McCarthy did what he thought was right but cost him his job in the process. House conservatives, led by Gaetz, wanted no part of any Democrat-approved stopgap funding bill..
Some Republicans who backed McCarthy would like to un-ring the bell but, continued opposition for House conservative would still prevent McCarthy from getting close to the 217 votes needed to be reinstated as House Speaker. Jeffries , of course, could tell his Democrat Caucus to vote for McCarthy, but would demonstrate colossal hypocrisy since Democrats already voted as a bloc to oust McCarthy Oct. 3. “I think Jordan would do a great job,” McCarthy said, throwing his support to Jordan. McCarthy’s backers need to heed his wishes to get the House out limbo to approve as new Speaker. Democrats plant o vote unanimously to approve Jeffries as House Speaker knowing he wouldn’t get one GOP vote and could never become Speaker under the GOP majority. “We got to get this back on track,” McCarthy said, knowing Republicans have a big decision.
Some members of the GOP Conference don’t like Jordan’s closeness to 77-year-old former President Donald Trump. They fear that Trump would take control of Congress with Jordan as House Speaker. But anyone following Jordan’s rise to the upper echelon of GOP politics knows that he thinks for himself. If he backed Trump in the past, whether on the 2024 election or the Ukraine War, it was not only to back Trump but to speak his own conscience. You don’t have to be a Trump acolyte to know that the Obama administration used the Department of Justice and FBI to go after Trump for years, all based on former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s fake Steele dossier. Jordan went after the deep state government weaponization to protect the rule of law, not primarily Trump. Jordan wants to root out government corruption, not for Trump but for the American people.
Jordan has the weekend to make calls and turn some angry McCarthy backers around, reassuring them that he’ll do what he always does in protecting and defending the Constitution, not primarily Trump. But in defending Trump against deep state corruption, Jordan thinks he’s defending the rule of law. At the end of yesterday’s closed-door GOP meetings, Jordan was 55 votes away from capturing the House Speaker’s job. Closing the gap to get to 217 won’t be easy but the Republican Caucus knows that Jordan is a trusted member of the GOP House. “If we’re gong to be the majority party, we have to act like the majority party,” said Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), a former president of the Tea Party. “He’s got some work to do,” said Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Id.), thinking that his fence-sitting will eventually back Jordan. When you look at Jordan’s track record, you’d think the GOP would welcome his leadership.
Houose Republicans are beginning to get over McCarthy’s ouster, something that through the leadership in crisis. “As emotion begin to leave some members, I think it’s going to easirer for some of them to get to yes,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), giving his colleagues the benefit of the doubt. When it comes to some members fearing with Jordan more Trump influence in the House, they need to take Jordan at his word that he’ll do the right thing for House Republicans the American people. Rep. Steve Scalisie (R-La.), who what the GOP’s first nominee for Speaker after McCarthy’s ouster, bailed out Oct. 12, saying he would not play any games. But that’s exactly why some in the GOP House voted against Scalise. The don’t think with his pat gunshot injuries and current battle with cancer, he has the stamina to lead the House. House Republicans are luck to have someone of Jordan’s caliber to lead the House.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s e editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
