Important question of the day: Is there a dress code for Speakers of the House? Does the job description require them to wear jackets or sports coats?
If so, there could be a big problem. On the heels of Kevin McCarthy’s extirpation as speaker, Freedom Caucus founding chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), was first out of the gate in announcing he would seek the position.
This is a man famous for donning just a dress shirt and tie, and someone who was recently described by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as his “mentor.” (Jordan has since been joined by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise as a candidate for the most thankless job an elected official could have.)
ADVERTISEMENT
Fashion faux pas aside, Jordan is predictably being cheered on by the rabble rousers who toppled McCarthy.
Despite professing his support for McCarthy as speaker back in January, Jordan was simultaneously nominated by Gaetz to run for the top House job. He hit double digits in the early rounds, forcing McCarthy to endure multiple rounds of voting. (Jordan previously challenged McCarthy for minority leader in 2018.)
Jordan continued his rhetorical support for the embattled speaker this week, giving a speech defending him on Tuesday.
But Jordan hasn’t always circled the wagons around his Republican leader. In fact, he made his bones attacking another Republican speaker, John Boehner.
“Jordan was a terrorist as a legislator going back to his days in the Ohio House and Senate,” former Speaker Boehner told Tim Alberta, then of Politico. “A terrorist. A legislative terrorist.”
Boehner clearly harbored resentment for how his fellow Ohio Republican helped push him out of his speakership. “Fuck Jordan,” Boehner declared (in case there was any confusion about how he felt).
It’s no surprise that a consummate establishment Republican like Boehner might quarrel with a conservative revolutionary like Jordan. Of course, as Alberta pointed out, “A quarter-century before the conservative insurgency stormed Washington and derailed his speakership, John Boehner was the conservative insurgency.”
This raises an interesting question: Does the process of becoming speaker inevitably make someone, de facto, the establishment?
Does herding cats propel one to accept the awesome responsibility that comes with power, a la Thomas Becket, or is it once a revolutionary, always a revolutionary?
Putting a finer point on it: Upon assuming the speakership, would Jordan cease being the insurgency and suddenly begin worrying about making sure his caucus funds the government and raises the debt ceiling?
Or would he take a hardline stance on budget cuts and other positions that are frankly unattainable in a world where Democrats control the presidency and the U.S. Senate—leading to shutdowns, defaults, and other disastrous outcomes?
In making this decision, Jordan would likely face a sort of Catch-22. He either lives long enough to become the villain (the establishment), or he becomes a disastrously bad and ineffective speaker.
Republicans have had revolutionaries ascend to the speakership before. Look no further than Newt Gingrich—who remains a controversial figure nearly three decades after he became Speaker in the 1994 GOP wave election, and who is often blamed for birthing the polarization afflicting American politics today.
But Gingrich was also a strategic pragmatist who fended off his own coup attempts from Republican revolutionaries who wanted to oust him. And just this week, Gingrich advocated for the expulsion of Matt Gaetz and other Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy.
The big lesson of Gingrich’s tenure may be that the people who lead revolutions are often not equipped to govern once they topple the regime.
This is partly because opposition requires a different skill set. And it’s partly because leading necessarily requires making compromises that inevitably knock the shine off of a revolutionary, sometimes making him vulnerable to a new generation of outsiders.
In the unlikely event that Jordan were to ascend to the speakership, how would he lead? Can a guy who thrives on being the insurgency transition into leadership? Would he chart his own course, or would he serve as a rubber stamp for the most extreme members of the Republican caucus—and possibly even a second Trump administration?
Jordan, who holds a law degree and a degree in economics, is a smart and crafty operator who isn’t above throwing some elbows. He supports impeaching Joe Biden and fiercely defends Trump.
As The New York Times noted back in April, after Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg indicted Trump, Jordan, chair of the Judiciary Committee, accused Bragg of “advancing ‘radical pro-crime, anti-victim policies’ while pursuing a case against Mr. Trump that he claims constitutes ‘interference’ in the 2024 presidential race.”
Along those lines, Jordan’s ascension to speaker would signal a clear shift in priorities, redirecting the House GOP in an even more “America First” or MAGA orientation. As The Guardian notes, “Jordan said on Wednesday he would not support continued aid to Ukraine if elected speaker.” According to Reuters, Jordan received an “F” grade from Defending Democracy Together’s “Republicans for Ukraine” report card.
That would be very bad news for those of us who don’t want to see Vladmir Putin prevail over Ukraine.
It’s incredibly difficult to picture Jordan wrangling the 218 votes necessary to become speaker. But we are living in unprecedented times, and anything could happen.
A bigger question is, why would a man who won’t even don a blazer want the awesome responsibility of leading the House? It’s much more fun to loosen your tie, roll up your sleeves, and burn it down.
