The United States House of Representatives, for the first time in history, is without a Speaker. It may also remain that way until its Republican members figure out a way to operate without animus and settle on a single figure who can herd its members into something resembling not just an opposition party but one that works and serves its constituents.
On October 4th, Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted in a movement led by Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. Gaetz, along with seven colleagues, objected to what he perceived as an abdication of traditional Republican politics. McCarthy voted with Democrats on a measure designed to keep the government open until at least November 17th when, unless Congress acts again, it faces the same threat.
While setting a whole new precedent in ousting McCarthy, Republicans again put themselves in the spotlight by clumsily rejecting two candidates ready, willing and, perhaps, even overanxious to fill the vacancy. Many observers have written that the party has embraced chaos as its unofficial policy platform.
Louisiana Representative Steve Scalise and Ohio’s Jim Jordan both stepped up and, as in old Hollywood, pronounced themselves ‘ready for their close-up.’
Scalise won the party’s first ballot over Jordan, 113-99, still well short of the necessary 217 votes. But following a private meeting with Jordan, the Louisiana announced just hours later he would no longer seek the job, leaving Jordan the lone candidate. There have been whispers that Jordan forced Scalise’s announcement, including having his supporters underscore Scalise’s health. He recently announced that he was undergoing treatment for blood cancer.
With Jordan running alone, two votes on successive days resulted in two embarrassing outcomes for the far-right, pugnacious politician. He got 200 votes on the first ballot and one fewer on the second.
Despite his desire for the job, his backroom lobbying and private phone calls to fellow Republicans, it became clear that a third vote would only show another embarrassing decline in votes. Caucus members were showing obvious disdain for the Trump acolyte. He later quietly announced he would not seek another vote.
For Democrats, Jordan’s false-start campaign for Speaker was less a shock and more a repudiation of a congressman better known for making noise than policy. “There is nothing in the entirety of Jim Jordan’s record that indicates he can put the good of the country over partisan politics,” said Colorado Democratic Congresswoman, Diana DeGette.
Jordan, a wrestling legend from rural Ohio—was a four- time state champion in high school with a 150-1 record, and a two-time NCAA champion at Ohio State University—has earned the animus on both sides of the aisle.
Fellow Ohioan and former Speaker of the House John Boehner is blunt in his characterization of his fellow buckeye. “A terrorist, a legislative terrorist” he called Jordan. “I just never saw a guy who spent more time tearing things apart—never building anything, never putting anything together.”
Jordan, who chairs the powerful House Judiciary Committee, has other baggage. In sixteen years in Congress, he has never passed a single bill or even a resolution. There is also a story connecting Jordan to a widespread Ohio State wrestling program sex abuse scandal involving as many as 400 young men and one woman.
A number of former OSU wrestlers have accused Jordan of knowing about the exploitation but doing nothing. Jordan remains adamant that no one ever came to him. The Congressman’s office issued a statement saying only that Jordan “never saw or heard of any abuse, and if he had, he would have dealt with it.” Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach at OSU from 1986-1994. The University has officially apologized to the victims along with paying out an estimated $60 million in settle- ment money.
A university probe conducted by an independent law firm concluded that OSU coaches and university leadership knew for years that the team doctor—who died by suicide in 2005—was molesting male students but did nothing to stop him.
Jordan’s name also stands out in the bipartisan January 6th Congressional Investigation. He has never fully explained his role in the January 6th insurrection. For example, he has failed to address numerous phone calls he had with the former president on that day. Jordan is also one of 147 House members who voted to decertify the 2020 Presidential Election results.
A number of House Republicans have announced their interest in filling the historic void and one, ideally, may emerge this week. But the self-inflicted wounding of ‘the party of Lincoln,’ much orchestrated by the always camera-ready Gaetz, will linger.
The House, divided now for weeks, has been characterized as both rudderless and chaotic. “That describes it well,” said Metropolitan State University-Denver’s Rob Preuhs. “It’s clear the House decided to pare its leadership down without thinking about how the next step would look like.”
The House’s disarray, said the Metro State professor and chair of the Political Science Department, is also dangerous in other ways. “It’s important to have a unified voice with national affairs,” he said. With wars on going in Ukraine, Israel and Hamas again at the precipice of a new Mideast war and China’s desire for dominion in the Pacific, the Republicans’ frat fight “comes at great cost.”
Preuhs is guessing that the GOP caucus may still struggle naming a new leader, but it’s possible one could emerge by week’s end. What may hasten things, he said, is the reality that the 2024 election is not that far away. “There are implications both internally and procedurally,” Preuhs said that won’t allow this political food fight to linger on too much longer.
Of course, any acceleration of the process may be stymied by Gaetz and his solid and loyal ‘gang of seven.’ They, after all, did play an integral role in both placing McCarthy in the Speaker’s chair last January as well as orchestrating his October fall.
