Democrats are salivating at the prospect of Rep. Jim Jordan ascending to become speaker of the House, figuring they’ll benefit at the polls next year after voters are repulsed by the Ohio Republican’s brand of conservative politics.
While Mr. Jordan would likely further marginalize Democrats on legislation, they figure he will help them retake control of the House in the 2024 elections — particularly if the GOP also selects Donald Trump as its presidential nominee.
“If he becomes the face of the Republican House of Representatives, while Donald Trump is the face of the Republican Party, I think that a lot of people will vote for Democrats,” Rep. Brad Sherman, California Democrat, told the Forbes Newsroom podcast.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also sees an opportunity for political gains with Mr. Jordan. The DCCC issued a memo directing Democrats to make Republicans in swing districts have to answer for Mr. Jordan’s politics, saying it should be “a career-ending move” for those GOP lawmakers.
Democrats helped a group of rebel Republicans oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy two weeks ago, and the House floor has been paralyzed since then as the GOP tries to figure out a replacement.
The House Republican Conference voted to nominate Rep. Steve Scalise, the current majority leader, but he was unable to secure enough commitments to win a vote on the full House floor.
SEE ALSO: Trump sings praise for Jim Jordan to be next House speaker
Republicans have now turned to Mr. Jordan, the current chairman of the Judiciary Committee and one of the chamber’s most vocal members.
Mr. Jordan, first elected to Congress in 2006, was one of the founders of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of the most conservative lawmakers. They have frequently pushed GOP leaders to take a stiffer approach to controlling illegal immigration and cutting government spending.
Mr. Jordan was also identified as a key figure in plans to challenge the 2020 election results.
He has earned Mr. Trump’s endorsement for the speakership.
His ascension to the gavel is not guaranteed, though GOP lawmakers have been warming to him. On Friday, when the speaker designate won the nomination, at least 52 lawmakers said they wouldn’t support him on the House floor.
That number appears to have dropped substantially. Rep. Chip Roy, Texas Republican, said that “there’s somewhere south of 10” lawmakers still holding out against Mr. Jordan.
SEE ALSO: Jim Jordan scrambles to lock down support for Tuesday’s vote for House speaker
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, has demanded Republicans work with Democrats on a bipartisan solution for the speakership.
“The extremists have broken the House of Representatives, ” Mr. Jeffries wrote on X. “Only a bipartisan governing coalition can fix it.”
The Democratic National Committee issued a blistering attack on Mr. Jordan on Tuesday — in English and Spanish — calling the Ohio Republican a “MAGA extremist” who will push for abortion restrictions, government shutdowns and cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
Immigrant rights activists, meanwhile, labeled Mr. Jordan “one of the leading anti-immigrant voices in Congress” and accused him of using “invasion rhetoric” to describe the unprecedented surge of illegal immigration under President Biden.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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