Jordan receives his hearing.
That is just one example of the hardline tactics used by Ohio Republican, Jordan, to get his way. Some colleagues may characterize it as bullying, but POLITICO even referred to him as the “other speaker of the House.”
Once again, Jordan is pushing for something that many of his colleagues are unwilling to give him. As he campaigns for the speakership, he faces a dilemma: Does he continue to be a team player or resort to the tough tactics that made him known?
One thing is clear: there’s work ahead for Jordan. Although he won the GOP nomination for speaker, the vote did not show the unity he and his allies anticipated. An astounding 81 Republicans chose Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), a low-key backbencher who entered the race just hours before the vote.
“We were shocked by the number of people who didn’t vote for him,” said Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.)according to Bloomberg. “There was nowhere else to go, and they still didn’t want to go there.”
The challenge Jordan faces boils down to this: despite aligning more with leadership in recent years, many of his colleagues still lack trust in him.
Numerous members worry that he may resort to fiscal brinkmanship and lead the government into shutdowns. An even larger group is angry at how he treated Steve Scalise after Scalise won the nomination for House majority leader. They are not enthusiastic about seeing the second-place finisher take the gavel.
However, it is not surprising that Jordan and his allies are prepared to fight in a way that Scalise was not. Their strategy is simple: expose the dissenters in a public floor vote and subject them to political pressure.
“They will vote on the floor, and then they will hear from the grassroots,” said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.)told POLITICO on Friday. Burchett echoed the belief that Jordan’s opponents will yield under pressure from the GOP base.
This theory holds value: in a secret-ballot revote, opposition to Jordan decreased from 81 to 55. And of those 55, only a few have publicly voiced their opposition, suggesting a fear of openly opposing Jordan.
However, reaching a majority of 217 will require an intense whipping effort that contradicts the message Jordan conveyed to his colleagues recently: that he has changed and will represent all Republicans, not just the conservative base.
If he resorts to bulldozing his opposition on the floor, it would contradict his earlier stance that the nominee needed to secure 217 votes within the conference before initiating a floor fight.
(Note that Jordan is not the only one who has changed their position: earlier this week, when Scalise gained momentum, former speaker Kevin McCarthy supported the rule of obtaining 217 votes first. After Jordan’s nomination, both McCarthy and acting Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry instructed Republicans to fall in line, according to a person present in the room. The message was clear: Jordan will be speaker, a message neither man conveyed after Scalise was nominated.)
Despite the pressure, a group of Republicans is privately coordinating an effort to stand firm against Jordan. This group includes appropriators who question his judgment on government funding and defense hawks who disapprove of his wavering stance on Pentagon budget increases.
However, this group is not known for defying their colleagues. Jordan has other advantages: unlike Scalise, who faced pressure to drop out after one day, he has over three days to win over opponents before the expected vote on Tuesday. Additionally, many members are weary of the ongoing drama and eager to choose a leader and move forward.
A person familiar with Jordan’s whipping effort denies the notion that he is trying to bully his way to the gavel. After securing the nomination, Jordan encouraged skeptical members to voice their concerns directly to him. The person stated that not a single lawmaker has expressed their intention to vote against him on the floor.
“Chairman Jordan has made it clear that he wants to unite the conference in order to pass the bills that the American people expect by giving Israel the resources they need to destroy Hamas, securing the border, and reforming FISA,” said spokesperson Russell Dye. “He is looking forward to working with the entire conference to do so when he’s speaker.”
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