PHILADELPHIA — We caught up with House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) here to get a sense of what he thinks of the current state of the House GOP.
It’s an interesting time for House Republicans, who are seeing their effort to impeach President Joe Biden falter. Furthermore, a small group of hardliners are looking to oust Speaker Mike Johnson. Déjà vu, folks.
Johnson: Jordan reiterated that he supports Johnson, adding he’ll oppose any effort to oust the speaker.
“I’m not for it,” Jordan said. “I’ll vote against the motion to vacate, but I think the tabling motion will happen first and I’ll vote to table that motion.”
Jordan acknowledged he’s had disagreements with Johnson on how the speaker handled FISA, Ukraine aid and FY2024 spending bills.
Jordan also remains adamant that he doesn’t have higher ambitions to climb into leadership himself. Remember that Jordan ran for speaker before Johnson won the gavel, so take that with a grain of salt.
We did recently write about what Jordan has been up to behind the scenes, which includes helping dozens of his rank-and-file GOP colleagues in an election year.
Impeachment: Jordan said the case for impeaching Biden is still open, as the nearly year-long inquiry drags on. However, Jordan didn’t give a concrete timeline to finish the probe nor a commitment that House Republicans will draft articles of impeachment.
Remember: Election Day is about six months away and the longer the Biden impeachment inquiry drags on, the more difficult it will be to get this process across the finish line.
“The case is compelling but we got to finish our work and then make a decision,” Jordan said
Jordan added that it’s up to Johnson and the GOP leadership if they want to bring it to a floor vote once he and Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) complete their work.
Republican investigators haven’t turned up any conclusive evidence of wrongdoing by Biden throughout their probe.
Party unity: Jordan called on Republicans to focus on beating Democrats and electing former President Donald Trump rather than fighting with each other.
“We should stick together as Republicans,” Jordan said. “The next six months is about electing President Trump as president of the United States. It’s about winning back the United States Senate… and that’s why we need to win the House.”
Jordan also disagreed with his colleagues’ efforts to get involved in primaries to support challengers over incumbents.
A number of Freedom Caucus members are supporting right-wing challengers to moderate incumbents. A handful of moderates are also backing John McGuire, a Virginia state senator challenging HFC Chair Bob Good (R-Va.).
“I don’t engage in that,” Jordan said. “The only time I’ve ever endorsed against an incumbent was when it was two incumbents running and I had already been for one and felt that was the right person, so other than that situation, we shouldn’t be doing it.”
Jordan supported Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) this year against Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Ala.) in a member-on-member primary after redistricting.
— Mica Soellner
