The efforts of Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan to become the next House Speaker have begun to grate on his Republican colleagues.
An unidentified House Republican told The Washington Post that Jordan and his staff intend to subjugate the populace. The same legislator stated, “Jordan’s team has the knives out.”
“I’ll vote my conscience, which is ‘no,’ but I don’t want to be a punching bag for the next three days,” the representative told The Post’s Early 202 newsletter. “Right now, Jordan is woefully short on votes, and his team wants to beat folks into submission.”
The unnamed lawmaker, who represents a swing district, is likely just one of many votes Jordan must turn in order to become the next House speaker. Jordan was nominated by House Republicans on Friday, but the vote behind closed doors is not the final step. A subsequent vote conducted after Jordan’s victory reportedly revealed that 55 Republicans would vote against him on the House floor in a public vote, potentially foreshadowing a repeat of the speakership drama from January. If House Democrats unite in opposition against him, Jordan can likely only afford to lose four votes.
Conventionally, Republicans support their party’s nominee on the House floor, but this tradition has been shattered by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s January difficulties and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s withdrawal from the current race after he gained the nomination before Jordan.
According to reports, Jordan intends to conduct a floor vote on Tuesday, which could force Republicans who oppose him to take a public stance. Former President Donald Trump supported Jordan in the past, but his support has had no effect thus far.
“Chairman Jordan is looking forward to uniting the entire conference on Tuesday in order to get back to work and pass the bills that the American people expect by giving Israel the resources they need to destroy Hamas and securing the southern border,” a statement issued by Jordan spokesperson Russell Dye to Insider.
