Republicans are saying 'hell no' to Jim Jordan. Let's hope it stays that way.

Ray Marcano
Updated ·3 min read
36

In the den of insanity, sanity occasionally wins.

Fingers, toes and elbows crossed the victory will hold.

The U.S. House of Representatives is so far saying "hell no" to the idea of giving Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the speaker's gavel.

The House voted again Wednesday and Jordan lost again. But the fact that Jordan has gotten this far shows Washington isn’t broken. It’s smashed to bits.

Are Republicans sick and tired of Jim Jordan?

It seems some in Jordan’s own Republican caucus has tired of his scorched earth politics. He’s a Trump apologist and election denier who claims he never said the 2020 election was stolen, until he says it was.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is seen on the House floor Oct. 18, 2023, as lawmakers hold a second vote to elect a new speaker in Washington.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is seen on the House floor Oct. 18, 2023, as lawmakers hold a second vote to elect a new speaker in Washington.

“I don’t know how you can ever convince me that President Trump didn’t actually win this thing based on all the things you see,” Jordan told Fox News after the 2020 election.

He wants to impeach President Joe Biden because – no one knows why, beyond some vague allegation of dishonesty. And Jordan advanced an antisemitic trope by spelling the last name of Tom Steyer, a 2020 presidential candidate who identifies as Jewish, $teyer.

Listen up, Republicans. The world is in chaos, so why are you playing stupid games?

Why would Jim Jordan be such a dangerous speaker of the House?

All of this pales in comparison with the havoc Jordan could inflict on America as House speaker. As a co-founder of the hard-line Freedom Caucus, he could name a fellow far-right member as speaker pro tempore.

He could assign plum committee assignments to his cronies.

He could craft a House leadership more beholden to Donald Trump than to the voters.

That’s even more disturbing when considering that if a Biden-Trump election were held today, Trump would likely win.

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If the House remained in GOP control – a big if – then the system of checks and balances would crumble because the House would do Trump’s bidding, a frightening prospect because the revenge-seeking former president has vowed to go after his perceived enemies.

Americans can’t stand politics, as polls show voters have little regard for politicians or the government. And less than half of U.S. adults (47%) could name all three branches of government, the Annenberg Public Policy Center reported last year.

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If you don’t understand the basics, how do you understand even slightly more complex topics that have a big impact on how government works? How can you understand that the U.S. House speaker is a big deal?

Fortunately, the caucus beat back an effort to name Jordan speaker and defeated his “MAGA-see, MAGA-do” compatriots. That’s not much of a surprise given the immediate objection to this candidacy.

Despite Jordan’s contention that he could unite the party, he and his supporters are treating the speaker election like a boxing match, seeking to pummel his opponents into submission.

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They took to the airwaves to pressure Republicans to vote for him, a tactic one of his allies, Rep. Dan Crenshaw , R-Texas, called “the dumbest way to support Jordan.”

But another supporter, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., tweeted, “You guys want to go 15 rounds? Fine. Let’s do it. On the floor. ... You want to explain to your voters why you blocked Jordan? Then bring it.”

It’s one thing to be a firebrand who loves to cause havoc. Have at it.

It’s another to control the House and be second in line to the presidency.

The Republicans have gotten it right.

Let's hope they continue to say, "Hell no."

Ray Marcano, a longtime journalist, is the former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror, and a Fulbright fellow.
Ray Marcano, a longtime journalist, is the former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror, and a Fulbright fellow.

Ray Marcano is a longtime journalist with writing and editing experience at some of the country’s largest media brands, including The Columbus Dispatch, where this column first published.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Is Jim Jordan House speaker? No. GOP has to keep it that way.