Senate Republicans embarrassed by the prolonged stalemate in the House over electing a new Speaker are warming up to the idea of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) taking the job in hopes that he’ll be able to corral conservative House rebels.
Jordan has long been regarded in Washington as one of the most hard-line conservatives in Congress. He founded the House Freedom Caucus and played a leading role in challenging President Biden’s 2020 election victory.
But Senate Republicans who were pulling for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to hang onto his job and then quietly rooted for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) to wield the Speaker’s gavel are now willing to give Jordan the “benefit of the doubt.”
Senators say the leadership vacuum in the House is a major problem that needs to get solved as soon as possible, and they worry that if Jordan can’t marshal a majority vote on the House floor, the impasse could last for days if not weeks longer.
“We just need effective leadership. We can’t have this nonsense of a handful of people questioning a Speaker every time we have to deal with difficult subjects, and we have a lot to deal with,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C. said). “I hope that Jim’s up to the task.”
Tillis and other senators think that Jordan has “evolved” since his earlier days of tormenting GOP leaders and helping chase former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) from power. Boehner once called members of the Freedom Caucus, which Jordan once led, a bunch of “legislative terrorists.”
“I think he’s evolved. He’s gotten generally good feedback. I don’t know him that well, met him a couple of times,” he said.
Jordan supported McCarthy’s election to Speaker in January and last month spoke on the floor in his defense as conservatives led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) sought to topple him.
Senate Republicans aren’t sure whether Jordan is ready to negotiate with Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to keep the government open or provide money for the war in Ukraine but they are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Even if Republican senators aren’t thrilled to see Jordan wielding the Speaker’s gavel instead of McCarthy or Scalise, they say the infighting in the House must end, fearing it’s reflecting poorly on the broader party and the Republican bid to win back control of the Senate and White House.
“We can’t, obviously, pass any legislation, do any supplemental appropriations — that sort of thing — until they have a Speaker,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) leadership team.
Cornyn suggested that weeks of bitter infighting over the House leadership doesn’t look good to voters around the country.
“I’m not sure how much the American people like what’s happening in Washington. Period,” he said.
When asked whether he’s confident that Jordan would be willing to cut deals to keep the government funded, Cornyn said, “It all remains to be seen, but I give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“Governing is harder than being in the minority and just kind of criticizing others. I’ve been impressed with the job he’s done as chairman of the Judiciary Committee,” Cornyn said. “Certainly, as one of the founders of the Freedom Caucus, I’d say he’s come a long way.”
Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has scored points with Senate Republicans for pushing the issue of border security to the forefront of the spending debate and moving to change asylum law that has allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter the United States across the U.S.-Mexico border.
But GOP senators have criticized Jordan’s threats to withhold funding to the Department of Justice and FBI because of the federal prosecutions of former President Trump.
Republican senators have also warned that pursuing an impeachment inquiry against Biden is a potential “political loser” for the GOP, urging House colleagues to instead focus on the economy, inflation and other issues.
Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairwoman Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) says she’s ready to work with Jordan or whomever becomes the next Speaker and urged her colleagues to elect a new leader as soon as possible.
“I would say that the House needs to come to decision quickly,” she said.
Senate Democrats, however, warned that Jordan’s ascension to Speaker would put the Senate and House on a collision course over government funding and other issues.
“He’s never seemed to me like a serious person,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said. “He always seemed to exist to tear things down, not to build anything up. It’s hard to imagine somebody with that kind of résumé being constructive.
“If it’s Jim Jordan, we’ll do our best to try to negotiate with Jim Jordan but that seems — he doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who has ever wanted to cut a deal with Democrats, and that’s what the job requires,” he added. “The thing that being Speaker requires you to do in this political environment” of divided government “is cut deals with Democrats.”
A Senate Republican aide argued that Jordan, if elected Speaker, might have more leeway to negotiate with Democrats on spending legislation and other issues because as a founding member of the Freedom Caucus he has a higher store of goodwill among far-right House conservatives than McCarthy did when he took the job in January.
In the same vein, the aide cited the Washington adage that only a president with solid national security and anti-Communist credentials such as Richard Nixon could “go to China” in 1972 and begin a thaw in U.S.-China relations.
The source cited a report that Jordan has assured House colleagues that he will allow a vote on a package including funding for Ukraine and Israel as a sign that Jordan would be willing to be more pragmatic as Speaker.
Several House Republicans, including House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), who were previously opposed to Jordan becoming Speaker announced Monday that they would support him.
Rogers posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that he and Jordan had “two cordial, thoughtful, and productive conversations over the past two days.”
He said he and Jordan agreed “on the need” for Congress to pass a “strong” Defense authorization bill and “appropriations to fund our government’s vital functions, and other important legislation like the Farm Bill.”
Al Weaver contributed.