Tag: jim jordan
Speaker Johnson Faces Possible Ouster As Jordan Jockeys For Takeover

Speaker Johnson Faces Possible Ouster As Jordan Jockeys For Takeover

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) appears ready to make his move to take over as Speaker of the House after Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) is expected to make his move after the GOP loses control of Congress.

NOTUS reported Monday that Republican lawmakers believe Jordan is preparing to take over and that he's raising and donating large sums of campaign cash to incumbents.

The House isn't expected to remain Republican in the November election. It is typical for the president's party to lose seats in the first midterms. However, Trump's poll numbers are so bad when it comes to the economy and starting an unpopular war in Iran that the GOP looks increasingly likely to lose control of Congress and possibly the Senate.

Jordan tried to beat Johnson when the Republicans ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in 2023, but ultimately failed to garner a majority. Over two dozen "lawmakers, congressional aides, outside advisors and lobbyists" told NOTUS that they see signs Jordan is preparing to make his move.

Jordan, a far-right extremist, has been trying to make inroads with the shrinking moderate and establishment wing of the party, the report explained.

“He’s done a really good job kind of broadening his base of support,” one moderate told NOTUS. “He’s gone out of his way to help people and build relationships.”

Jordan has spent years trying to overcome a scandal involving his awareness of sexual abuse at Ohio State University when he was an assistant wrestling coach. There are at least 177 sexual abuse cases involving Dr. Richard Strauss, the New York Times reported in 2021.

When Jordan ran, he faced a lot of questions about why he couldn't win in 2023. One member asked why, after years of refusing to raise money for those he disagreed with, he would suddenly decide they were on the same side. A key piece of the job in leadership is protecting incumbents and helping raise money for their reelections.

Jordan's excuse was, “It wasn’t my job to help you then."

One ally tried to explain that Jordan was instead focused on protecting Trump from impeachment.

“Jim completely changed his tack,” one senior Republican lawmaker told NOTUS after opposing Jordan in 2023. “He knew that for any chance for him to ascend to a top leadership role, or any leadership role for that matter, he was going to have to shed the wrestler Jim and become a little bit more congenial, workable, friendly, and civil.”

While he's been making inroads with moderates, he may still have to work to convince even those in his own wing of the GOP.

“Some of his angling is frustrating to some on the right,” said a Freedom Caucus member.

Jordan will likely have to face off against Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).

When asked about it, Jordan said he was “focused on helping our team keep the majority,” and he is “not at all” looking to a leadership race if the GOP moves into the minority.

The response perfectly encapsulated why so many of his colleagues resisted; he simply wasn't a team player.

Jordan is perhaps most known for using the Judiciary Committee to try to bring down former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential run.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Rising Gas Prices Enraged Republicans Under Biden, But Not Any More

Rising Gas Prices Enraged Republicans Under Biden, But Not Any More

When the price of gas skyrocketed in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, Republicans fell over themselves to blame then-President Joe Biden in hope of hurting his reelection bid as well as Democrats in the midterms—even though Biden was not at fault for the spike.

But now, with President Donald Trump squarely responsible for the exponential increase in oil and gas prices after he launched an ill-conceived war on Iran, Republicans have completely reversed course, claiming that high gas prices are a cost that they're willing to pay.

It’s a message taken directly from Dear Leader, who had the gall to argue this week that higher oil prices are actually good for Americans.

Get a load of Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who said Thursday that he’s totally fine with higher gas prices in order to let Trump wage war in Iran.

"If that means prices go up for a short time, I think Americans understand we can live with that," Jordan said on CNN.

But in 2022, Jordan was one of the loudest voices criticizing rising gas prices.

"Real America doesn’t care about the January 6th Committee,” he wrote on X at the time. “Gas is over $5 per gallon!”

And he was still on a tear about gas prices in 2023.

"Gas prices are up 63 cents this year. Groceries prices are still at record highs. Good luck affording a house with 7% interest rates. Bidenomics!" Jordan wrote on X at the time.

But Jordan is not singing the same tune today, with gas prices up 69 cents over the last month, grocery prices rising, and mortgage rates at more than six percent—all directly thanks to Trump’s war and illegal tariffs wreaking havoc on the economy.

Then there’s Rep. Mark Alford of Missouri, who told CNN this week that “there may be sacrifices to be made at the pump on a temporary basis."

"I think the people in my district are [willing to pay higher prices at the pump],” Alford said. "I'm willing to pay 30 percent or 30 cents more at the pump to make sure Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon that's going to hit the U.S."

ALFORD: There may be sacrifices to be made at the pump on a temporary basisRAJU: Do you think Americans are willing to make it?A: I think the people in my district are. I'm willing to pay 30%, or 30 cents more at the pump to make sure Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon that's going to hit the US

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 11, 2026 at 2:50 PM

Just a few weeks ago, Alford was praising Trump for lowering gas prices.

"President Trump and House Republican’s [sic] America-First energy agenda is working—and it’s working so well that even networks usually quick to criticize are reporting the relief with a smile. When gas prices go down, American families go forward,” he wrote on X.

So then does Alford think that skyrocketing gas prices thanks to trigger-happy Trump make Americans go backward?

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida also said that Americans just have to get over surging gas prices because Trump's war is more important.

“We’d love to get gas prices back down, but the most important thing is [to] destroy Iran’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon, destroy their military, their ballistic missile capability," Scott told CNN. “We all want gas prices to come down. Nobody wants gas prices higher. This president doesn’t want gas prices higher. But we have to be realistic."

Of course, Trump said in June that the United States “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities, so it’s unclear how in just a few months the country became such a massive threat that war was necessary.

Given that a majority of Americans don't support Trump’s war and only wanted to see prices in the United States come down, it's hard to imagine that being a winning message for the GOP.

But that didn’t stop Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas from pushing the same message.

"Freedom is not free. Americans are gonna have to make some sacrifices," Marshall said, even though the war in Iran has nothing to do with freedom in the United States.

However, there is one Republican sounding the alarm on Trump's war.

“If we are still bombing Iran with kinetic action—people don’t want to call it war—if there’s still kinetic action that causes oil to be over $100, I think you’re going to see a disastrous election [for Republicans],” Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky told Fox Business.

Rand Paul: "The 2026 elections, already we are behind the 8 ball. If you add in high gas prices, high oil prices, and if we're still bombing Iran with kinetic action -- people don't want to call it war -- I think you're gonna see a disastrous election."

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 10, 2026 at 9:00 AM

Paul’s right: Rising gas prices are Trump's fault, and voters will punish the GOP for it come November.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

James Comer

Republicans Spouting Absurd Claims To Deflect Trump's Epstein Letter

In yet another sign that GOP lawmakers have no shame when it comes to defending their Dear Leader, multiple Republican members of Congress made the insane claim this week that President Donald Trump’s vile birthday message to Jeffrey Epstein was forged.

The lawmakers were taking cues from the White House, which claimed that Trump's signature on the birthday note is not real—suggesting that someone nearly 25 years ago had the foresight to forge Trump's signature.

"From what I've seen, it's not his signature," Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida said, even though it is very clearly Trump's signature.

And, in true Republican fashion, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee used it as an opportunity to turn attention back to President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen.

"I don't know. I mean, anyone can do a signature. We’ve seen autopens been used quite a bit by the Biden administration,” he said.

“The president says he did not sign it. So I take the president [at] his word,” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer told CNN.

Comer, who spent two years investigating Biden, added that he has no plans to investigate Trump over the letter.

“You asked if I'm going to be trying to figure out whether that, you know, fake or not, probably not. We're going to be trying to get justice for the victim,” he said.

Similarly, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio told CNN that he doesn't "buy" that the signature was Trump's, and that he doesn't think that the House should investigate Trump's ties to Epstein. But what else would you expect from someone accused of refusing to protect sexual assault victims when he was a wrestling coach at the Ohio State University?

Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri tried to pull the notorious "I haven't seen the letter" cop out when asked about it by CNN's Manu Raju. But when Raju pulled out a copy of the birthday message, Burlison refused to look at it.

"I don't want to see it,” he said while laughing.

House Speaker Mike Johnson also ridiculously claimed to have not seen the note.

"I’ve heard about it. But no," Johnson told reporters. "And the White House says it’s not true."

Meanwhile, Democrats are mocking Republicans for their blatant lies.

“So let me get this straight … 20 years ago, Democrats forged Trump’s signature on a creepy birthday card to a pedophile … planted it in Epstein’s estate before Trump even ran … and then waited to release it until *after* Trump got reelected? Got it,” Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts wrote on X.

"I have two eyes. You have two eyes,” Rep. Eric Swalwell of California told CNN. “Anyone who looks at that letter which was provided by the Epstein estate knows whose signature that was.”

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

Jim Jordan

Jim Jordan Making 'Aggressive Moves' To Replace Speaker Johnson

Since both Republicans and Democrats blocked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) motion to vacate the speakership Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is safe — for now.

The Georgia lawmaker has not been the only Republican House member plotting on Johnson's removal, according to a Thursday, May 9 Axios report.

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) has plans of his own to takeover his Louisiana colleague's position in 2025.

Per Axios, several sources said that "Jordan privately told colleagues what he would be doing differently than Johnson during the recent fight over foreign aid funding."

Additionally, the Ohio GOP leader "has been noticed handing out more campaign checks to colleagues," according to some of his colleagues, and one Republican told the news outlet "that Jordan previously said it was 'not his job' to help vulnerable members. His shift has raised his peers' eyebrows."

Jordan was vying for the speakership last year after Rep. Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) ouster, but failed when "25 Republicans refused to vote for him on the House floor on his final ballot."

The Ohio lawmaker has not given up hope.

According to Axios, "Jordan has hit the trail for a bevy of Republicans in recent months, including vulnerable Republicans and" McCarthy allies.

Axios' full report is available here.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

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