This Tuesday, the House was set to vote on who would finally replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as Speaker, whose forced exit from that role preceded a lengthy period of procedural paralysis for the legislative chamber as majorly pressing situations nonetheless continued to progress.
Republicans were putting forward Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and it looked likely he’d nab the level of support needed to win — though it certainly wasn’t assured. Many Republicans described as ostensibly moderate were opting to back the choice from far-right members of their party rather than reach an agreement with the long more unified House Democrats. Jim Jordan doesn’t have a reassuring record, many would observe. He helped push conspiracy theories about the last presidential election, avidly opposes reproductive rights, and is accused of evident complicity in an attempted cover-up of persistent sexual abuse at a university where he coached.
And this is who Republicans want to make a key public face of their party before the 2024 elections? Someone known for antagonizing witnesses in Congressional hearings on grounds sometimes difficult to even follow because Jordan’s style leans more on confrontation than systematically laying out a case?
“The idea that GOP are about to nominate Jim Jordan of all people (yes, Jan 6th Jim Jordan, ban-all abortions-from-conception Jim Jordan, sexual abuse coverup Jim Jordan) for *Speaker of the House* in an attempt to save their majority… they deserve to lose,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said on Monday.
Relatedly, Democratic groups like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which is an official party organization that gets involved in House races, were already talking about ambitions for using votes to make Jordan the House Speaker against politically vulnerable Republican members of the chamber, which would include Republicans currently representing districts where Joe Biden won in 2020 against Donald Trump. Jordan is known for politics rather than a lengthy record of serious legislating. During this Congress, he’s targeted multiple prosecutors who investigated Trump. Are these the kitchen table issues, as they’re known, that matter to many Americans?
The idea that GOP are about to nominate Jim Jordan of all people (yes, Jan 6th Jim Jordan, ban-all abortions-from-conception Jim Jordan, sexual abuse coverup Jim Jordan) for *Speaker of the House* in an attempt to save their majority… they deserve to lose. https://t.co/iS87oefqrU
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 16, 2023
