Earlier this week, Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, who is currently Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, lost not one, but two votes for Speaker of the House, with even more members of the GOP joining the movement against him on the second ballot than on the first. Given the fact Jordan has been doing a bang-up job in the various investigations into President Joe Biden and allegations he and members of his family participated in an influence peddling scheme, and the fact he supports former President Donald Trump in his latest campaign for the White House, why would anyone not want to see the guy be the next speaker?
I mean, we all know he stands on his principles and will not compromise on important values when attempting to do what is best for our country. Isn’t that the kind of guy we want in such a high level position? Especially given the Speaker is right after the vice president in the line of succession?
Well, several members of the House have come forward, according to the Daily Caller, and stated that they feel the main reason for some of the hold-outs is to spite Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the charge against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, just this month.
“Gaetz, who forced the motion to vacate the chair vote in early October that successfully removed Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy from office, has continued to face criticism from many House Republicans for going against the status quo and holding McCarthy’s feet to the fire,” the report said.
“I have been told by a good number of people that their objection isn’t personal to Jim, it is that voting in Jordan is perceived to be rewarding Matt Gaetz and the rest of the eight. Others have indicated that some of Jim’s supporters wouldn’t support Scalise and so the holdouts won’t support Jordan,” Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs went on to tell the Daily Caller.
Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, who voted against McCarthy and is backing Jordan as his full-time replacement. Spoke with the outlet and stated she is convinced that members of the GOP are coming out against Jordan simply to spite Gaetz.
“The American people want a speaker who will be honest and represent them, not business as usual in Washington. It is disgraceful for a number of elected officials, many of them in safe GOP districts, to oppose Jim Jordan purely to spite Matt Gaetz,” Mace said in her conversation with the Caller.
Here’s more from the report:
Virginia Republican Rep. Bob Good said the GOP has no alternative and that while he cannot speak for the 22 members who opposed Jordan, he believes there are members voting against Jordan who are “disappointed” about the fact the party has to elect another Speaker.
“Well, I would point out that Jim Jordan is a centrist Republican leader in terms of the conference. Jim Jordan has his roots obviously in the conservative movement, founding of the Freedom Caucus and so forth. However, everyone knows he’s been a loyal team member of the leadership group in the conference, having been a chairman having supported Kevin McCarthy multiple times, not just voting for him, but endorsing him giving floor speeches to nominate and defend him. He supported Steve Scalise when he was the majority vote-getter last week. And so Jim Jordan represents the control center and that’s why he’s got 200 votes,” Good said in remarks given to the Caller.
“While I wouldn’t pretend to be able to crawl into the minds of the 22 who voted against him yesterday. I would point out they have no alternative. No one else has a supportive right at 200 members of our conference, there are no other candidates… In this case, these individuals are not only voting against the party here in DC, they’re also voting against the wishes of Republicans across the country and against the person who I would submit as the second most popular Republican in the country,” he continued.
“I’ll resist trying to apply my opinion on what their motivations might be. But obviously, there are members of our conference who are disappointed or disapprove of how or why we got to this point, the fact that we’re having to select the speaker, however, we are at this point. And so what is the right path forward for the good of the country, the good of the conference, the good of the conservative Republican agenda, our ability to fight the Biden, Schumer, radical regime and policies under which the American people are truly suffering,” Good added.
Gaetz himself stated that if that’s true, the Republicans who are holding out on their support for Jordan aren’t hurting him, but the Americans who voted them into office.
“The only people being punished are their constituents. Republican voters across the country are united behind Jim Jordan,” Gaetz said in a statement given to the Caller.
The Daily Caller asked the 22 GOP members who voted against Jordan to provide a reason for their decision. Only five responded by the deadline, saying it had nothing to do with Gaetz.
"*" indicates required fields
