Utah’s Republican senators have taken to the airwaves and social media to share their differing views on whether House Republicans should unite behind Rep. Jim Jordan for House speaker.
Over the weekend, Sen. Mike Lee expressed support for Jordan, the chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee and co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, while criticizing lawmakers who were unwilling to fall in line.
“It’s outrageous that Jim Jordan has been nominated by the party, has the support of McCarthy and (Speaker Pro Tem Patrick) McHenry, and yet ... a few House Republicans would rather work with Democrats,” Lee said Saturday. “If you’re a House Republican, please vote for Jim Jordan — not Hakeem Jeffries.”
Following an extensive push over the weekend, Jordan was unable to secure a majority of votes to become speaker in a House floor vote Tuesday, receiving 200 votes from the 432 members present. A second round of voting is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
But doubt remains as to whether Jordan and his supporters can persuade the GOP holdouts, numbering around 20, to change their minds. They have expressed concerns over Jordan’s role in rejecting the results of the 2020 presidential election, his aversion to compromise and his objection to continued aid for Ukraine.
In a statement given to the Deseret News on Monday, Lee outlined why he thought Jordan is prepared to lead the House as Congress stares down a quickly approaching spending bill deadline and calls for military aid packages to Israel and Ukraine.
“Jim Jordan is a hardworking legislator, a pragmatic leader, and a stalwart conservative. He is also a good friend with whom I’ve tackled countless policy issues over the last twelve years,” Lee said. “He already has the support of a majority of the House GOP conference, including former Speaker McCarthy, and I look forward to working with him to serve American families, defend the Constitution, and protect our great country.”
The House speaker race has also attracted the attention of Romney, who said in a CBS News interview on Tuesday that Jordan wasn’t the right choice for House speaker.
“The great majority of the Republicans in the House, I think, would like to have someone that represents the mainstream of our party. Jim Jordan represents a small part of the party, but a very vocal part of the party. And they’ve been calling the shots,” Romney said.
Jordan’s Republican nomination for the House’s top leadership position comes after weeks of chaos in Congress’ lower chamber, which included the removal of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier this month.
The House has remained speakerless and unable to consider legislation on the floor since McCarthy was ousted by eight Republicans, and all House Democrats, after he passed a bipartisan resolution to avert a government shutdown.
By caving to the demands of the party’s most radical members, Romney says “Republicans in the House are letting the tail wag the dog.”
“There are people in my party who go to Washington to bark, to make noise — not to make law, but to make noise. I think Jim Jordan would call himself one of those, who’s got a lot to say and is loud and barking, but actually passing law, getting law that’s signed, not just by members of the House, but also in the Senate and by the president,” Romney added in the interview. “That’s a different matter, and we’ll see whether he rises to the occasion if he becomes speaker.”
While he ranks low in terms of the number of bills he has introduced over his nine-term tenure — none of which have become law — Jordan has made a name for himself among conservative pundits and grassroots activists by playing a key role in the government shutdowns of 2013 over Obamacare and 2018 over a border wall and spearheading the investigation into President Joe Biden’s business dealings.
After Jordan’s failure to win over a majority of his conference Tuesday, he continued to try to win over his conference members, with another possible vote coming on Wednesday.
“He’s probably not the first choice I would’ve made, but it’s not my choice, it’s up to them,” Romney said. “But if he does get the job, it’ll be a case of the dog catching the car, which is, what happens then?”