Donald Trump endorsed Representative Jim Jordan as the next speaker of the US House of Representatives, giving the nine-term congressman from Ohio the former president’s coveted stamp of approval going into next week’s leadership elections.
(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump endorsed Representative Jim Jordan as the next speaker of the US House of Representatives, giving the nine-term congressman from Ohio the former president’s coveted stamp of approval going into next week’s leadership elections.
“Congressman Jim Jordan has been a STAR long before making his very successful journey to Washington, D.C., representing Ohio’s 4th Congressional District,” Trump said on his social media platform Thursday night. “He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!”
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has considered meeting with House Republicans as they prepare for the speaker election. His backing is likely to shore up support among conservative House members, giving the 59-year-old Ohioan the clearest shot at the post second in line to the presidency.
Read more: Trump Said to Consider Meeting With Republicans on Speaker Vote
A Jordan speakership would have far-reaching implications for the chamber’s legislative work as well as the presidential race.
Jordan, now chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is a key Trump ally, loyally defending the former president during Democratic investigations into Trump before leading Republican investigations into the Biden administration.
As president, Trump awarded Jordan the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a closed-door ceremony just before leaving office in 2021.
Jordan opposed the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week, but announced his candidacy for speaker. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who was McCarthy’s No. 2, is the only other other Republican who has formally announced his candidacy.
Both candidates are to the right of McCarthy, but Jordan is viewed as the more conservative of the two. He voted against the stopgap spending bill last week that kept the government from shutting down while Scalise voted for it.
Jordan’s election as speaker would portend a difficult road ahead for Ukraine aid and a spending package to avoid the next government shutdown deadline in November. It would ensure aggressive investigations into President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, going into the 2024 presidential election.
Speaking on Fox News Thursday, Jordan said any other stopgap spending bill would have to include an across-the-board 1% cut to spending, as required by the debt limit increase Congress passed in May. “There’s nothing like a cut to spending that focuses politicians’ attention. So we need that threat hanging there to be leverage” to get Republican priorities on crime and border security passed, he said.
Jordan said the House should take pains to avoid the messy fight that elected McCarthy on the 15th ballot at the beginning of the Congress, and that the nomination shouldn’t go to the House floor until a candidate is assured of victory. “We shouldn’t have to go through what we did back in January,” he said.
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