This week, the House is expected to finally vote on a new Speaker, which will end the procedural paralysis that has gripped the chamber since the removal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) by a majority vote. Unfortunately for those concerned about adhering to standards of levelheaded governance, the GOP pick is Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and he was assembling support this week at a rate that suggested he would prevail.
Jordan’s antagonistic approach is well-known. Are Republicans who currently represent districts where Joe Biden prevailed in the 2020 presidential race prepared to be stuck with Jordan as a main leader of their party heading into next year’s elections? The guy who helped push conspiracy theories about the last presidential election, routinely propagates what the record establishes is deception in Congressional hearings, and spends a considerable amount of legislative time targeting prosecutors who’ve in some way gone after Trump rather than, you know, anything else?
Democratic political groups are preparing to challenge the swing-district Republicans who back Jordan in the Speaker’s race, since the reason he’s approaching what could become a stint as Speaker is consolidating support from inside his party, where members are opting to appease the extremists rather than strike a bipartisan consensus for which Democrats were probably ready weeks ago. “If vulnerable House Republicans want to further embrace the extremist MAGA agenda by voting for Jim Jordan… House Majority PAC welcomes it with open arms and we will take back the House in 2024,” CJ Warnke, a Democratic spokesman, said.
Republicans who were evidently throwing their hats in the rhetorical Jordan ring included Rep. Mike Rogers (Ala.), who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Mike Lawler (N.Y.), the latter of whom is a first-term member who won in 2022 by less than one percent. And he wants to join the guy whose most recent social media posts include frenzied fearmongering about immigrants? “It’s not just New York City. Illegal aliens are arriving in places like San Diego, Chicago, and Los Angeles,” Jordan, who represents none of these places, asked online. “Is your city next?” (UPDATE: It was less clear as time went on how Lawler would actually be voting.)
