Jordan says he will not run for speaker.
Jordan, whose congressional district abuts Boehner’s, has been more than a bit of a foil to Boehner and House leadership; he leads and helped found the House Freedom Caucus, a group of about 40 members who have consistently bucked leadership on issues ranging from spending to Obamacare. Most recently, the fight was over federal funding for Planned Parenthood after an anti-abortion group released videos of a Planned Parenthood doctor talking about selling fetal tissue for research. Republicans universally decried the sale of fetal body parts, but Boehner and many Republicans were not willing to shut down the government over a fight over federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
Many members of the Freedom Caucus were.
Jordan said too often, the party has caved on issues such as executive amnesty and spending caps. “You can’t concede before the game starts,” he said. “You can’t forfeit before the ref blows the whistle.”
He and a four other Freedom Caucus members met with Boehner on Thursday. After that meeting, Boehner said he told his chief of staff that he was thinking of speeding up his timeline for retiring. Jordan wouldn’t describe what happened in the meeting, but said he made points there that he has consistently made: That Republicans must fight hard to do what they told voters they said they would.
“I wouldn’t call it just a difference in tactics,” he said “We’ve got to use the power we have in the legislative branch to make the arguments in a compelling and consistent way and do it for a sustained period of time. That’s how you win.”
He quoted a Washington Post poll published earlier this month that found that roughly 60 percent of Republican voters felt “betrayed” by the GOP Congress. That and the fact that three outside candidates – Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina – are currently leading in the GOP presidential polls, he said, is telling.
“This is a moment to change and do what we said we would do, plain and simple,” he said.
Jordan has not endorsed anyone else for House leadership roles. While Boehner was frustrated about the prospect of a government shutdown, he was also worried about asking fellow members to vote on a measure introduced by Freedom Caucus member Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., that would’ve ousted Boehner from his speaker role.
Jordan, who three times backed Boehner for speaker, would not say whether he would’ve supported a measure to oust Boehner.
“That’s not the issue now,” he said. “The issue is we are where we are and it is time to truly focus on doing what we told (voters) we were going to do.”
Because of their disparate roles – Boehner leading the entire GOP caucus, and Jordan leading the far right wing of that caucus – the two have been at odds, but Ohio Republicans insist the differences have never been personal.
Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington, said while the Freedom Caucus includes members who worked to oust Boehner, not every member of that caucus has worked to do so.
“There’s no real tension between Boehner and Jordan,” he said, saying Boehner has “looked out for Jordan a lot.”
Former Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-Bainbridge Twp., wrote in an article for Politico this week that during the 2010 redistricting process, he forwarded to Boehner suggestions from some of Boehner’s allies that they eliminate Jordan’s seat because Jordan had frequently been at odds with the GOP establishment. Boehner, he wrote, refused.
“It’s always been fine,” said Jordan of the two’s relationship. “Everyone knows we’ve had our disagreements, but he’s a gentleman. And I wish him the best.”
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