The Archive

IN THIS EDITION

Jordan ramps up his inside game

After TikTok, are more Big Tech hits coming?

Stanton and Ciscomani lead bipartisan border trip

How AI is boosting small business

Voting rights fight kicks up as Election Day draws nearer

THE TOP

Jordan ramps up his inside game

Happy Friday morning.

In October, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan suffered the most humiliating defeat of his political career. Following three grueling floor votes, Jordan was forced to withdraw from consideration as speaker after a group of moderate Republicans refused to back him.

But during the last few months, the 60-year-old Jordan has drastically stepped up his political operation, boosting dozens of members of the House Republican Conference — even those who sunk his bid to be speaker. These kinds of moves could help Jordan — among the most high-profile conservatives in Congress — build bridges across different House factions in the wake of his embarrassing defeat. And it will come in handy no matter what happens to the razor-thin GOP majority in November.

Most notably, Jordan held a tele-town hall late last year for Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), one of his most vocal opponents during the speaker race.

“I’m going to help anybody and everybody so that we can hopefully keep our majority,” Jordan told us.

This week, Jordan was in Pennsylvania to help boost Dave McCormick’s Senate bid. Jordan told us in an interview that he’s only been home in Ohio 10 days over the last nine weeks. Jordan has also been holding public events for lawmakers in their districts, a way to help them and himself at the same time.

Jordan has hit the road for dozens of members. Since his speaker bid blew up, Jordan has stumped for GOP Reps. Russell Fry (S.C.), Jeff Van Drew (N.J.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), Kevin Kiley (Calif.), Laurel Lee (Fla.), Greg Steube (Fla.), Cory Mills (Fla.), Michael Waltz (Fla.), Brian Babin (Texas), Michael Cloud (Texas), Randy Weber (Texas), Nathaniel Moran (Texas), Keith Self (Texas), Ben Cline (Va.), Alex Mooney (W.Va.), Barry Moore (Ala.), John Duarte (Calif.), Lance Gooden (Texas), August Pfluger (Texas), Jodey Arrington (Texas), Gus Bilirakis (Fla.), Gary Palmer (Ala.), Garret Graves (La.) and Speaker Mike Johnson.

And he’s using the Judiciary Committee to hold high-profile hearings in competitive districts. Jordan is heading to Philadelphia next week to hold a hearing on crime. He’s spearheaded other field hearings on crime in New York City and Chicago.

After that, Jordan is heading to Tucson, Ariz., for a border security hearing and then onto Grand Forks, N.D., for a northern border security hearing with Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.). Armstrong is running for governor.

Jordan is one of the House’s top fundraisers, with nearly $10 million on hand. He routinely pulls in more than $1 million per quarter, thanks largely to direct mail and online fundraising. The Ohio Republican can do this because he has a national following, one that’s only gotten bigger during the Donald Trump era.

In just the first three months of 2024, Jordan’s reelection campaign pulled in nearly $2.3 million, according to FEC records. More than $1.4 million of that total came from unitemized contributions of $200 or less, a stunning amount.

Yet this type of operation costs a lot of money to run as well. During that same three-month period, Jordan’s campaign spent more than $1.7 million. The bulk of that went to cover fundraising expenses, although Jordan was also able to contribute tens of thousands of dollars to colleagues and conservative organizations.

In recent weeks, Jordan has taken steps to show that he’s interested in more than just burning down the House. For example, Jordan opposed funding for Ukraine, but he voted for the rule to allow the legislation to be debated. Jordan also voted against the FISA reauthorization bill, but again, he supported the rule to allow debate on legislation he strongly opposed. This allowed Jordan to get some amendment votes that he wanted as well.

And Jordan has stayed loyal to Johnson, saying he doesn’t want to see an attempt by conservative hardliners to oust the Louisiana Republican.

This all leads us to the obvious question: What does Jordan want? If House Republicans lose the majority, could Jordan make a bid for Republican leader, playing on the drama in the conference? He’s already the most powerful GOP committee chair in recent memory, commanding a gigantic budget and afforded tremendous leeway to investigate anything he wants.

Jordan also has turned down chances to run statewide, meaning his sights are fixed on the House.

Jordan told us he isn’t running for speaker and he is “supporting Mike Johnson.” Here’s Jordan on Johnson:

This will hold Jordan and Johnson over until Election Day. But depending on what happens then, the Ohio Republican or the GOP conference may take a different view on who should be running things.

— Mica Soellner and Jake Sherman

Events Next Week! Join us next week for can’t-miss editorial events.

Tuesday, April 30 at 8:30 a.m. ET, we’re speaking with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) as a part of our series, The AI Impact. Click here to RSVP.

Wednesday, May 1 at 9 a.m. ET, we’ll sit down with Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) to discuss national security modernization and warfighter readiness in the United States. RSVP here!

WASHINGTON X SILICON VALLEY

After TikTok, are more Big Tech hits coming?

While tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid was at the center of the national security supplemental Congress passed this week, it’s a potential TikTok ban that’s capturing many Americans’ attention.

The social media giant could be banned from the United States this time next year if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t sell it. The enactment of the divest-or-ban measure is a major moment for a Congress that has routinely whiffed the last decade when it comes to cracking down on Big Tech.

“Our batting record on Big Tech — we’re batting zero,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) lamented. “We’ve not done privacy, we’ve not done kids’ online safety, we’ve not done low-hanging fruit [bills]… Taking this first step is really important.”

Warner would know. The Virginia Democrat, to hear him tell it, has “had the kitchen sink thrown at” him by TikTok and other tech giants that have been in his committee’s crosshairs over the years.

The Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election yielded disturbing findings about Moscow’s use of social media to sow discord in the United States. It led in part to the Honest Ads Act, which would create new disclosure rules for online political ads. That bill never went anywhere.

Antitrust legislation targeting tech giants Amazon, Google and Meta also stalled out in both chambers thanks to heavy lobbying by the companies.

In an interview this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Speaker Mike Johnson added the TikTok bill to the foreign aid package “because he thought he needed that to help get Republican votes… I wasn’t going to tell him not to. Gotta pass the supplemental.”

The political tide shifted dramatically earlier this month when Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who was skeptical of the House-drafted TikTok bill, embraced it after the timeframe for divestiture was extended from six months to one year.

The politics of TikTok: President Joe Biden signed the TikTok bill into law when he approved the $95 billion foreign aid package. Former President Donald Trump claims he opposes the TikTok effort and is attacking Biden for backing it.

“The Democrats wear this one. Whatever political upsides or downsides come from it, Joe Biden’s going to have to own,” said Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), a close Trump ally. “Because you have one candidate who supported it and one candidate who opposed it.”

But Trump repeatedly pushed for a TikTok ban or divestiture as president. And the legislation that was passed this week received overwhelming support from Hill Republicans in both chambers. Johnson championed the bill in the House, for example, while Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has been a strong supporter of the effort in the Senate.

Yet Trump sees it as a political advantage for him to portray Biden as the one trying to ban TikTok because Trump thinks he can win over some of the younger voters who use the platform.

On the horizon: Schumer also reiterated his desire to find a path forward on overwhelmingly popular bipartisan legislation aimed at bolstering online safety for children, as well as a new data privacy bill.

“We’re making very good progress,” Schumer told us this week.

There aren’t very many legislative vehicles left this calendar year, but it’s possible that these bills could ride alongside the FAA’s reauthorization. That needs to be cleared by May 10. Schumer filed cloture on the House’s five-year reauthorization bill earlier this week.

— Andrew Desiderio

BORDER WATCH

Stanton and Ciscomani lead bipartisan border trip

Reps. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) and Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) are leading a rare bipartisan trip to the U.S.-Mexico border today in search of solutions to the bitterly divisive issues of border security and immigration.

The lawmakers are spearheading a two-day tour across their state and northern Mexico, seeking to put Arizona at the center of the national conversation about the border. The Bipartisan Policy Center is facilitating the trip.

“The people that are on this trip are serious people, serious policymakers,” Stanton told us. “They’re not the type who are going to run to try and score short-term political points at the expense of doing the right thing.”

Stanton and Ciscomani will be joined by Reps. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) and Young Kim (R-Calif.). The lawmakers will meet with local civic and business leaders, plus border patrol officials.

The crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border is one of the most polarizing issues in Congress, making it nearly impossible to pass any kind of comprehensive measure.

Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Donald Trump helped torpedo the bipartisan Senate border deal earlier this year. House conservatives continue to demand hardline immigration policies that no Democrats will go for.

Meanwhile, Democrats have their own political problems when it comes to the border crisis. A number of vulnerable Democrats have called on the Biden administration to do more to tackle the flow of illegal migrant crossings while also speeding up deportation efforts.

Ciscomani said he’s disappointed that the border continues to be a political football between both parties.

“It keeps going back and forth with no real solutions,” Ciscomani told us. “Both sides have accused each other of wanting something different and when either side doesn’t get everything they want, they just pick up their ball and go home.”

The lawmakers hope to use lessons from the trip to help forge consensus on the border and immigration.

Stanton chairs the New Democrat Coalition’s Immigration and Border Security Task Force, while Ciscomani is a member of the Western Caucus, Main Street Caucus and the Problem Solvers Caucus.

Ciscomani said his goal is to get members in a better position to negotiate on this issue on Capitol Hill.

“All the major things we’ve been able to do have been done on a bipartisan basis,” Ciscomani said. “That precedent is being set in this Congress, and that gives some light to all this.”

– Mica Soellner

THE AI IMPACT

How AI is boosting small business

ICYMI: On Tuesday, we released the third segment in our series, The AI Impact, examining what the technology means for small businesses and how policymakers approach the issue.

Small businesses are adopting AI as a useful tool to improve efficiency and save time on administrative tasks.

Lawmakers continue to educate themselves on artificial intelligence as they work towards developing legislation that encourages the best uses of AI while putting in place the necessary backstops to curb its abuse. Don’t forget to listen to the accompanying podcast here.

This is the third in our four-part series covering the impact of AI technology on the government, private industry, the health and scientific world and nonprofits.

As we draw closer to wrapping up the series, we’ll sit down with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) on April 30 to discuss his views on AI and the latest on what Congress is up to on the issue. You can RSVP to attend the event here.

Read our previous segments about AI’s impact on cybersecurity and on health care.

The AI Impact series is presented by Google.

Voting rights fight kicks up as Election Day draws nearer

The battle over who gets to vote in November is heating up with increased action in Congress and Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Donald Trump promising tough “election integrity” legislation soon.

Prompted by the record 2020 turnout, Republicans in Congress and state legislatures are pushing bills that advocates warn will suppress racial minorities and disadvantaged people.

Democrats meanwhile are working feverishly to make voting easier ahead of a high-stakes election.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin has recently hosted voting rights hearings as Judiciary Committee chair. “Of course, you’d like to keep people aware of the fact that it’s still a challenge,” Durbin told us.

Clearly, most of the action here is at the state level. With a GOP-controlled House and Democratic Senate, not much will be done on this issue at the federal level ahead of November.

Against the odds: In February, Durbin and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) reintroduced the John Lewis voting rights bill. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), the only Black member of Alabama’s delegation, is leading the House version as her state remains at the center of voting rights activism.

Another bill by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) would empower voters to sue any state or local government that makes it harder to vote.

But voting rights legislation, including the John Lewis bill, has proven difficult to pass in recent years. Still, sponsors say they’ll keep introducing bills until everyone has equal rights.

“We should continue to tell the experiences of everyday people who find it impossible almost to get access to the ballot,” Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), who recently led a Judiciary Committee field hearing in Alabama, told us.

Republicans, including Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), cite the historic 2020 turnout to argue that Democrats’ efforts are unnecessary.

The Trump-Johnson move: During his visit to Mar-a-Lago earlier this month, Johnson said House Republicans would introduce a bill making it illegal for non-citizens to vote. Of course, it’s already illegal for undocumented immigrants to vote, and there’s no evidence of this being a widespread problem.

But activists worry Trump and Johnson’s planned legislation could further suppress eligible voters and particularly put Latino voters at risk when they go to the polls.

Tough realities: Needless to say, all of this is just posturing in a divided Congress. In the meantime, Durbin is hopeful voters will choose “people who are for the right kind of change.”

Butler views the bills as crucial for holding lawmakers accountable for their positions.

“Until we have 60 senators who see that equal access to the ballot is a foundation of our country, we are going to continue to introduce the legislation and to make senators here tell the American people that they don’t think everybody should have access to the ballot,” Butler said. “Until we pass this law, the only alternative is defiance.”

— Elvina Nawaguna

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