I’ve been quite upfront about the fact that I didn’t think ousting Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as House speaker was a great idea. McCarthy was by no means the perfect speaker. We have divided government, so it’s inevitable that compromises have to be made, especially with such a slim majority, and that makes certain people unhappy. But Republicans have to learn to keep their battles private and resolve them behind closed doors rather than make the party look ridiculous and unable to govern.
But it’s over now. McCarthy has been ousted, and the GOP has to move forward.
As of right now, there are two Republican candidates for speaker: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.).
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) October 4, 2023
It is with a strong sense of responsibility and purpose that I seek the House Republican Conference’s nomination for Speaker of the House.
Read my letter to my colleagues: pic.twitter.com/G6YDd2SjCD
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) October 4, 2023
More will likely come. But, so far, these are the two candidates. In many ways, I am sure both men share similar goals of securing the border, holding the Biden administration accountable, addressing the problem of crime in our nation, and so on. But on the issue of spending, I have more confidence in Jordan than Scalise. Spending is a huge issue right now, as our nation has accumulated $33.4 trillion in debt. We know Democrats won’t cut spending, and while Republicans haven’t exactly been great on this issue either, if any party will do it, it’s the GOP. The last time we had a balanced budget was when Newt Gingrich was speaker, and we need to do it again. Clearly, the spending we’ve been experiencing the last few years isn’t sustainable, and we gotta start paying that debt down.
Between these two men, I trust Jordan more to rein in spending. That’s mainly because of one issue: Ukraine. I really can’t explain why we’re still sending billions of dollars over there, while critical problems here aren’t being addressed. We’re just burning money over there. And when it comes to Ukraine, these men couldn’t be more different. Scalise has supported continued funding of the seemingly never-ending war over there, while Jordan does not.
And Jordan is against more funding for Ukraine, as he explained on CNN.
“What about Ukraine? Are you willing to move forward with an aid package if you’re speaker?” CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju asked Jordan on Wednesday.
“I’m against that,” Jordan said unequivocally. “What I understand is at some point we’re going to have to deal with this appropriations process in the right way. And we’re going to try to do that in the next…41 days. The most pressing issue on American’s mind is not Ukraine. It is the border situation and crime on the streets.”
“I’m against that,” Jim Jordan, a candidate for speaker, says of an aid package for Ukraine, going further than McCarthy.
“The most pressing issue on Americans’ mind is not Ukraine — it is the border situation, it’s crime on streets.”
Said he would see what Senate sends to House pic.twitter.com/qpOrNZoyIc— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 4, 2023
I’ve always seen Jim Jordans as a conservative fighter, and at this point, that is exactly what the GOP needs. Democrats have no qualms about putting their most radical members in positions of power, and we need strong conservative leadership. Jordan may have the same challenges that McCarthy had, but he might just be the guy we need to show that the Republican Party has a backbone.