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Rep. Jim Jordan angles to lead a possible House Republican minority 1/2

Marianna Sotomayor. (WAPO take it with a grain of salt)

October 3, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. EDT

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is not known for being generous with moderate colleagues. During the earliest days of his two decades in the House, the far-right firebrand often ignored, or publicly defied, the more centrist members of his party.

But with his sights again set on the highest echelon of House Republican leadership, Jordan seems eager to make amends.

He is steering clear of the intraparty fights he once seemed to relish,selling himself as a potential bridge between House Republicans and the MAGA front line, and raising — and sharing — a lot more money with his colleagues, including a significant investment to House Republicans’ campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee.

This cycle,Jordan has given a hefty sum — $1.7 million — to the NRCCand contributed to a range of campaigns. It’s a stark contrast from the early years of his career when he did not give any money to the NRCC and only fundraised for ultraconservative colleagues.

Jordan’s fresh push to lead marks an incredible shift for a man who was a notorious thorn in the side of House leadership and highlights just how much he and his party have changed as populist and antiestablishment views gained ground in the Trump era.

It is not yet clear if he has a shot. Much depends, of course, on the outcome of the election, particularly whether Donald Trump wins the presidency and who controls the House. Jordan has not publicly stated his ambitions and declined to comment for this article.

But a review of his fundraising and interviews with dozens of GOP lawmakers and aides suggest he is making an early and informal play on the chance that the unruly and often times ungovernable GOP conference loses its majority in November or that the conference becomes so disenchanted with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) that its members look for an alternative.

“It is clearly obvious that everyone is positioning for what might be next,” said Rep. Marcus J. Molinaro (R-N.Y.), who voted against Jordan once it became clear he had no pathway to becoming House speaker and has since invited him to campaign in his swing district.

Jordan’s most obvious play is if Republicans lose power, these people said, because it is highly likely that they will toss aside Johnson. Such a scenario opens the door for Jordan to seek a leadership slot and possibly face off against Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) for the top spot of minority leader once again.

Jordan’s pathway to leadership is harder if Republicans keep the majority, because he would need 218 lawmakers to be elected speaker. More than 20 Republicans voted against Jordan twice on the House floor last year when he sought the speakership, after his foe-turned-mentor Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted, with over 150 ultimately supporting he end his candidacy in a private ballot.

For Jordan, it was amoment when he realized he doesn’t have as much support within the conference as he thought. So, he started to build bridges.

“Jordan’s play is to be ready,” said one longtime Republican aide who has worked closely with him. “I don’t think he wants to challenge Mike or anyone, but you don’t know when that moment is going to come.” The aide, like many others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

Of those Republicans that publicly voted against Jordan on the House floor during the messy speaker’s fight last October, a handful were moderates and represented districts that President Joe Biden won in 2020. Most were pragmatic lawmakers who value governance and worried a Speaker Jordan would run the House like the raucous Judiciary Committee hearings he chairs. It is these groups he is angling to win over.

=Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), an ally of House leadership and a fan of Jordan, said Jordan has “evolved and matured so much==” in the six years the North Dakotan has been in office and calls his positioning for leadership so far “smart.”

This is not the first time Jordan has had his sights on competing for the top leadership spot — he challenged McCarthy for minority leader after the 2018 midterms. After Jordan lost, winning only 43 votes in a secret ballot, McCarthy and other Republicans advised Jordan that if he wanted to rise through the ranks of House leadership, he needed to step up his fundraising for all of his colleagues, according to two people familiar with the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail a private discussion.

He started to fundraise for more ideologically diverse Republicans, but it was not until 2022— when he was vying to become House Judiciary Committee chairman if Republicans regained the majority — that he donated $100,000 to the NRCC, his first donation to help House Republicans.

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