Jordan opposition hardens over ‘intimidation and threats’: ‘I’m not budging’

Resistance to Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-OH) run for speaker has only hardened in the last 48 hours over what holdouts call a pressure campaign of “intimidation and threats.”

Jordan, the GOP nominee to lead the House, suffered a setback on Wednesday as 22 Republicans voted against him on the floor. It was the second defeat in as many days as centrists revolt over the idea of a hard-liner like Jordan steering the conference further right.

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His vote tally was largely unchanged between the two rounds of voting — on net, only two additional Republicans dropped their support — but the holdouts emerged from the floor more dug-in than ever.

“I’m not budging,” Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), who voted for ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), told reporters after the vote.

Alex Brandon/AP

The Republican conference was never going to embrace a Speaker Jordan with open arms — he’s one of the biggest bomb throwers in the House, and the way McCarthy was unceremoniously ousted by eight conservatives last month still has loyalists like Gimenez smarting.

But a pressure campaign to change their vote has only cemented what seems like insurmountable opposition to Jordan’s candidacy. Jordan must flip 19 Republicans without losing additional support.

To close the gap, conservative personalities from Sean Hannity to Glenn Beck have contacted or threatened to punish Republicans who oppose Jordan, while lawmakers report robocalls spreading misinformation in their districts.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a Biden-district Republican who also voted for McCarthy, even shared anonymous text messages sent to his wife.

Jordan denies involvement, according to Gimenez, who voiced frustration with the tactics in a Tuesday phone call.

“I told him, ‘I don’t really take well to threats. I really don’t,'” Gimenez said.

But the lawmaker is just one of several holdouts, from Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) to Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), to double down in their opposition Wednesday.

“This was a vote of conscience and I stayed true to my principles,” Granger, who cast her ballot for Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), said on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter. “Intimidation and threats will not change my position.”

The tactics took on a new level of gravity on Wednesday evening when Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), who voted for Granger, described receiving “credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls” for her speaker vote.

Jordan released a statement soon thereafter condemning the “abhorrent” conduct.

Gimenez, for his part, questioned who is funding robocalls he says falsely suggest he would vote for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and why Jordan is seemingly unable to get outside groups in line — he apparently told Gimenez he’s asked them to stop.

But Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), a McCarthy antagonist who ultimately voted to keep him as speaker in September, said activists would hound the holdouts whether lawmakers wanted them to or not.

“It’s not like I call people up and say, ‘Hey, turn off the spigot.’ Do you think the grassroots don’t give me a lot of hell?” he said.

“I mean, when I didn’t vote to vacate, there was a good bloc of the base that was like, ‘What are you doing, Roy?’ Like, look, the voters are going to speak,” he added.

Nonetheless, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), one of Roy’s Freedom Caucus colleagues, called the tactics unhelpful.

“Like, I know, in our country, Americans are really passionate. They want their voices to be heard — their voices should be heard,” he said. “But, you know, some of the stuff is not going to move these members. As a matter of fact, it only makes them harder to convince.”

“And so, my message to people who are in the outside groups who love this country, they’re conservative groups — they’re patriots — is, at this point, I think everybody just needs to stop,” he added. “Just let the members have this discussion amongst us.”

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Jordan signaled on Wednesday afternoon that he would not drop out, despite Republicans like Bacon declaring his candidacy finished. He and other lawmakers have warmed to the idea of expanding the powers of Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the speaker pro tempore, until the conference can decide on a “consensus” candidate.

The House will reconvene on Thursday, with a third vote possible sometime after 12 p.m.