Update 10/23/23: Jim Jordan is out of the race for Speaker after several attempts to gather a vote. A new GOP candidate will step up and be voted on at some point.
Just a day after a contingent of House Republicans led by Rep. Matt Gaetz worked with the Democrat caucus to oust California Republican Kevin McCarthy from his role as Speaker of the House, Ohio Republican Jim Jordan is stepping in to run for the Speaker’s gavel and replace McCarthy.
Rep. Jordan had previously said that he did not think that Rep. McCarthy deserved to be ousted from his role as Speaker because he more or less kept the promises he made to the more conservative members of the House in January, and that he did not want the Speaker’s chair.
That calculus appears to have changed, however, as Rep. Jordan just said, Washington Examiner reporter Cami Mondeaux reports, “I’ve had a lot of people reach out to us, asking me to do it, because I think we can. We’ll see if that happens, but I think I can.”
JIM JORDAN coming out of Speaker’s Office, responds to possible speakership bid: “I've had a lot of people reach out to us, asking me to do it, because I think we can. We'll see if that happens, but I think I can.”
— Cami Mondeaux (@cami_mondeaux) October 4, 2023
Rep. Jordan also asked for the support of his fellow members of the House of Representatives in a letter in which he laid out his main goals and views on what the House needs to be doing, namely getting back to serious work in the legislature and defending the border.
“We are at a critical crossroad in our nation’s history. Now is the time for our Republican conference to come together to keep our promises to Americans. The problems we face are challenging, but they are not insurmountable. We can focus on the changes that improve the country and unite us in offering real solutions. But no matter what we do, we must do it together as a conference. I respectfully ask for your support for Speaker of the House of Representatives,” he said.
“The Republican majority must continue to address the issues that matter to the American people. We must address rising crime in major cities and reject soft-on-crime, pro-criminal policies. We must get our fiscal house in order and reduce spending so that we can leave more to the next generation than a crushing deficit. We must do our constitutional oversight of the federal bureaucracy to ensure they work for the American people- not the other way around. And we must continue working to secure the border and protect our national security,” he wrote earlier in the letter.
In running for the position, Rep. Jordan is fulfilling the wishes of a slew of Republicans who are pushing for the conservative representative to do so. “My mentor Jim Jordan would be great!” Rep. Gaetz said on X. Similarly, Rep. Thomas Massie posted a picture of Rep. Jordan and said, “My first choice if he will run.”
In a post on X that was clearly meant to signal his priorities if he becomes Speaker of the House, Rep. Jordan posted, “Secure the border. Get spending under control. Fix the institution. Unify the party.” Commenters, however, thought that he should add a priority to that list: stopping funding to Ukraine.
Secure the border.
Get spending under control.
Fix the institution.
Unify the party.— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) October 4, 2023
For example, one commenter said, “Stop funding Ukraine! I want to see where that money is actually going with accountability. Many experts know that Russia will not lose this war due to pure numbers. Ukraine has lost much of their population. The war will end in negotiations with pressure from other countries. Do it now. Stop killing innocent people.” Similarly, another commenter said, “You missed one: Stop sending taxpayer dollars to Ukraine.”
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