Is A Bipartisan House A Real Option?
Brent Larkin was editorial director of the Cleveland Plain Dealer from 1991 until he retired in 2009. He was back this weekend to remind Ohio readers that grievously ignorant and backward voters in Delaware, Richland, Allen, Union, Marion, Auglaize, Ashland, Logan and 5 other mostly rural counties keep sending a legislative terrorist to represent them in Washington. That’s fine; he is them— and they are him. But now his dream of bringing his brand of destructive ultra-partisanship to the Speakers chair is within his grasp. Larkin warned that “Jordan’s reason for being is to destroy things, not build them.” Today Jordan will likely try to force his Republican colleagues to vote for him or face the wrath of MAGA-world. He’s unlikely to prevail since he can afford to only lose the backing of 5 Republicans and more than that have said they will never vote for him.
“Just maybe,” wrote Larkin, “deep in the recesses of their souls, the prospect of this country having its very own Axis of Evil frightened even them. As it should. Because that’s precisely what would become of the United States with Donald Trump as president and Jordan as House speaker. Placing second in the line of presidential succession a man willing to besmirch everything America stands for in service of Trump by rights should prove too risky for many of the House’s 221 Republican members.
[I]t’s notable that, for many House members who regularly flirt with extremism, Jordan apparently remains a viable option to replace the ousted speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy.
They’re mistaken. Jordan is a follower, not a leader. That’s why this one-trick pony was so willing to dive into any conspiratorial rabbit hole dug for him by the likes of Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon or Alex Jones. Eventually, Jordan either reappears empty-handed or emerges holding a fistful of lies designed mainly to harm some honest and hard-working American who loves his or her country.
No one will ever describe Jordan more fittingly than the late Michael Gerson, an evangelical Christian, lifelong Republican and onetime chief speechwriter to former President George W. Bush. Writing for the Washington Post in 2019, Gerson framed Jordan as “the Truly Trumpian Man— guided by bigotry, seized by conspiracy theories, dismissive of facts and truth, indifferent to ethics, contemptuous of institutional norms and ruthlessly dedicated to the success of a demagogue.”
Case closed.
Ohio has a long history of sending legislators to Washington who viewed their role as working to pass laws designed to make the country a better place, legislators like Charles Vanik, Frances Bolton, Lou Stokes, Dave Hobson, Don Pease, Steve LaTourette, Ralph Regula and others.
Jordan has played an altogether different role. In 2021, former House Speaker John Boehner was asked to name one of the “political terrorists” he had often complained about, the people who get lots of attention despite having no significant accomplishments.
“Jim Jordan especially, my colleague from Ohio,” replied Boehner. ”I just never saw a guy who spent more time tearing things apart― never building anything, never putting anything together.”
Boehner knew Jordan well. Both are Republicans with working-class backgrounds, both from Southwest Ohio. For years they represented adjoining congressional districts.
Jordan’s pursuit of the opening for House speaker has rightly led to the revisiting of accusations related to his time as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University from 1986 to 1994. At least five people, four of them former wrestlers and one a longtime friend, have said Jordan had to have known former OSU team doctor Richard Strauss was on a sexual rampage that would include 1,429 sexual assaults and 47 rapes of student patients during Strauss’ time at the school (1978 to 1998) prior to his suicide in 2005.
Jordan has consistently and adamantly denied accusations he knew about the abuse and didn’t report it. But on Oct. 10, the allegations resurfaced, with four of those former wrestlers telling NBC that Jordan lacks the character to be speaker. And the Washington rumor mill suggests more on this matter will soon surface.
Upon learning Jordan wanted to succeed McCarthy, former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the committee that investigated the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, remarked, “Jim Jordan knew more about what Donald Trump had planned for January 6 than any other member of the House of Representatives. Jim Jordan was involved, was part of the conspiracy in which Donald Trump was engaged as he attempted to overturn the election.”
The committee’s final report reached a similar conclusion about Jordan’s role in one of the more shameful chapters in American history. Jordan, now chair of the House Judiciary Committee, defied the committee’s lawfully issued subpoena calling him to supply documents and testify before the committee.
No one who genuinely cares about the country and its future would want Jordan as speaker. The same applies to Democrats, even though Jordan’s winning the job would almost certainly prove catastrophic for Republicans in the 2024 congressional elections.
…Jordan is bad for the country, bad for Ohio. With luck, those considering Jim Jordan for speaker of the House will keep that in mind.
When Jordan wad first elected to Congress in 2007, fellow Republican, Mike Turner— the former mayor of Dayton— was in his third term. Turner, unlike Jordan, is a mainstream conservative, albeit very partisan. Jordan is a fascist, one of the founders of the extremist House “Freedom” Caucus, which he chaired. This year Jordan became chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which he turned into a circus. Turner became chair of the Intelligence Committee, which he has mostly (for a Republican) tried to run as a serious body.
On Sunday, Turner was a guest on Face the Nation, primarily to discuss the situations in Israel-Gaza and Ukraine. Early in the interview, Margaret Brennan asked him “Do you know how long it will take before Republicans can select a speaker so you can do this important business?” That’s when Turner started down a fraught path. “No,” he said, “and this really is the tragedy. As you know, Kevin McCarthy was fired because he had sought a bipartisan solution to keep the government open and those who wanted to close down the government instead they closed down the House of Representatives with the aid of Democrats. You know, this was a very bad deal for America…
Brennan reminded the audeince that Turner is a Jordan supporter and then asked him if he thinks “that there is an alternate here where Republicans work with Democrats to find a mutually acceptable speaker?” He said he “would prefer there to be a Republican solution… But we have a lot of people on the bench. I think Jim Jordan will be an excellent speaker. I think he'll be able to get to 217. If not, we have other leaders in the House. And certainly, if there is a need if the radical, you know, almost just handful of people in the Republican side, make it unable— to make it for us unable to be able to return to general work on the House, then I think obviously, there will be a deal we'll have to be done.” Interesting he’d dare say that— especially since he’s aware that a coalition of conservative Republicans has come together to block Jordan.
Yesterday, Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan reported that 2 weeks after the Republicans ousted their own speaker, “GOP lawmakers are dysfunctional and paralyzed, seemingly unable to choose a leader and splintered like never before. The Republican Conference has turned into a high-stakes food fight… Jordan backers are intent on bringing his nomination to the floor in order to pressure wayward Republicans to flip. They may even attempt more than one floor vote depending on who opposes the Ohio Republican. Jordan’s allies warn that the Trump wing of the party will exact revenge on those who don’t vote yes… A group of establishment Republicans is working against Jordan. Some members from the House Armed Services Committee— led by chair Mike Rogers of Alabama [oops]— and the Appropriations Committee will vote against Jordan for as long as it takes to ensure he’s never speaker, according to multiple sources. This includes Rogers, California Rep. Ken Calvert, Florida Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and John Rutherford and Virginia Rep. Jen Kiggans, among others.” And Ann Wagner (R-MO) was a "Never, no way"... until she wasn't.
Warning: these are establishment Republicans, not insurgents like Matt Gaetz, Bob Good and Andy Biggs. There’s no reason to believe that they’ll have to stomach for the pressure that a long fight will put on them. Most of the people on Capitol Hill I’ve been talking to say all five of them will buckle fast. Sherman’s and Bresnahan’s sources have told them “that there are upwards of 10 lawmakers firmly in the ‘Never Jordan’ camp. They haven’t decided who they’ll back, but it’s not likely going to be McCarthy. Whoever it is, this is enough to keep Jordan from the 217 votes he needs. Jordan can only lose four out of 221 House Republicans.” The key here is how you define “firm” and I think Sherman and Bresnahan are a little more liberal about that definition than I am.
The two reporters wrote that “During the last few days, many Republicans have told us that no GOP candidates can get 217 votes in the GOP Conference. That’s looking more likely with every new twist in this drama. So could that lead to some sort of governing agreement with Democrats, as has been widely speculated? There’ve been no substantive discussions between Republicans and Democrats about this over the last few days, sources tell us. Democrats will want a hefty price to support a GOP speaker— and that price may be too high for Republicans to stomach. But remember: Any lawmaker can go to the floor when the House opens and offer a privileged resolution to expand Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry’s power, including electing him to the post. And that would have to come up for a vote in short order.”