OPINION:
Rep. Jim Jordan is running for Speaker of the House on a populist message, but when the only votes that count are 218 members of the Republican caucus, will a “power to the people” campaign actually work?
“People in the House are tired of all the decisions being made by a select number of people at the top,” Jordan said this morning on WMAL radio in Washington DC.
It’s fair to say people in the country are tired of that too. But will this message resonate when the cadre of congressmen Jordan is referring to are also the ones who dole out committee chairmanships, campaign support, and special favors?
It’s an uphill climb for the Ohio Republican, but he’s going right at the entrenched GOP leadership personified be his opponent, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California.
Jordan told hosts Vince Coglianese and Mary Walter that assignments for those coveted committee chairmanships are part of the reforms he’d put in place if he gets the gavel next year.
“How about letting the members of the committees choose who their chairman should be?” Jordan said. They know best who can get the job done.”
Jordan’s attack on the practice of the Speaker assigning these coveted positions to allies who have delivered support and votes is a direct challenge to the entrenched patronage of the past. It’s a Trump-like, “drain the House swamp” populist message and it may be appealing to voters, but whether congressmen want to actually earn their status in the house hierarchy is another question.
Jordan has a quaint notion: How about we actually deliver for our voters and do the things we’ve been promising to do?
The President has a great track record so far and he’s gotten a lot accomplished, “but how about all those other issues we promised? Like repealing Obamacare,” Jordan said, adding “like building a border wall?”
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