Following the historic removal of Speaker Kevin McCarthy led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and accomplished with Democrat support, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) officially threw his hat into the ring for consideration as the next Speaker of the House following buzz he was a likely contender.
In a Dear Colleague letter sent Wednesday morning, Jordan made his case to House lawmakers:
The American people have entrusted us to lead in the House of Representatives. Our majority has had success in the first nine months of the 118th Congress. We should be proud of what we have achieved together in these divided times.
But our work is not done. Far-left progressive policies are destroying our communities, our security, and our future. We have soaring crime across the country. We have an administration with open-border policies that have caused chaos and left our country vulnerable. We've seen federal agencies turned on the American people—silencing speech online, targeting parents at school board meetings, and flagging pro-life Catholics as potential threats—and we've witnessed the blatant double standards in federal law enforcement. We continue to spend too much money and Americans are suffering under President Biden's economy.
The Republican majority must continue to address the issues that matter to the American people. We must address rising crime in major cities and reject soft-on-crime, pro-criminal policies. We must get our fiscal house in order and reduce spending so that we can leave more to the next generation than a crushing deficit. We must do our constitutional oversight of the federal bureaucracy to ensure they work for the American people—not the other way around. And we must continue working to secure the border and protect our national security.
We agreed at the beginning of the Congress that there are three fundamental things the House must do: pass the bills that need to be passed, do the oversight, and rein in the spending. Working with Chairman Green and our leadership, I helped to deliver the most significant legislative accomplishment this Congress: the strongest immigration and border enforcement bill ever. With other committee chairs and the members of the Judiciary Committee, I am doing the oversight and holding the Administration accountable. And I have been among the leaders in pushing for fiscal discipline my entire career.
We are at a critical crossroad in our nation's history. Now is the time for our Republican conference to come together to keep our promises to Americans. The problems we face are challenging, but they are not insurmountable. We can focus on the changes that improve the country and unite us in offering real solutions. But no matter what we do, we must do it together as a conference. I respectfully ask for your support for Speaker of the House of Representatives.
As Townhall reported earlier, there was talk that Jordan had begun discussions with his fellow House Republicans about launching a bid for speaker, and now it's official after Jordan answered a question about whether he would run with a simple "yes" and sent the above letter. Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Jim Banks (R-IN) have already expressed support for Jordan, with more likely to join in the days ahead.
According to Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the House GOP will hold a candidate forum on next Tuesday and begin the work of electing the next Speaker of the House next Wednesday. Between now and then there's no telling how many other people may launch a bid for the gavel, but Congress can't do any legislative work until a new speaker is elected so the halls of Capitol Hill are likely to look more like a high school in the final stretch of a student body president election until then.
Once members of the House return to their chamber, it's unclear how many candidates will be jockeying for the gavel, but the successful candidate will be reaching for the magic 218 votes to clinch the speakership. If things go as they did in January when it took five days and more than one dozen ballots to elect McCarthy, things could get interesting.
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