Now that the Democrats have taken the House of Representatives, a scramble is breaking out to see who will become the GOP’s leader in the House and act as Minority leader.
On Wednesday, hardnosed conservative Ohio Rep Jim Jordan threw his hat in the ring. Jordan, the co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, will challenge the current House majority leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California.
Speaking to Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton on “Rising,” Jordan enunciated, “I plan to run for minority leader. In 2016, the American people elected Republicans to come here and change this town. I think the president is doing just that, but I don’t think they see the same intensity from folks in Congress, folks in the House of Representatives. Have we replaced ObamaCare yet? Have we secured the border yet? Have we reformed welfare yet? No we haven’t.”
Jordan told CNN, “I think we have to match the President’s intensity on changing this town as we move forward.”
When he was queried as to how the GOP will battle the newly-elected Democratic majority, Jordan answered, “You stand up for the truth. You stand up and defend the White House and the President,” adding that the GOP should “show the American people the difference in where we would like to take the country and earn back their trust and earn back the majority.”
The election for House minority leader will occur next Wednesday. McCarthy has not formally announced his candidacy; House Majority Whip Steve Scalise has also been rumored to be thinking of a run for the position. Scalise had asserted that if the GOP retained the House, he would not challenge McCarthy to be Speaker of the House, but he would not comment on what he would do if the GOP lost the House. He told Roll Call, “I’ve never been in the speculation game … when Paul said he was going to step down — I said I’d support Kevin. And I haven’t talked about all the things that might happen and what I might run for.”
Jordan chaired the Congressional hearings in July to discuss free speech on college campuses. He later said:
Colleges have historically been that place where you make your best argument, have a full and robust debate, and let ideas flow. But now we often find that if you’re libertarian or conservative and are invited to speak on campus, you later get disinvited. If they’re allowed to speak at all, conservatives and libertarians get shouted down or in some cases actual riots break out. If public colleges and universities continue to allow this to occur, Congress may have to get involved.
Jordan has attacked the notion of “revenue neutrality,” asserting, “The main principle is to lower rates, and have a longer budget window, because the idea of revenue neutrality is not smart. ‘Revenue neutral’ is the Washington way of saying that the tax burden stays the same, but we just shift around who pays what. In that scenario, what always happens is big corporations win, and middle-class families lose.”