Jim Jordan Launches Campaign for Speaker of the House

Jim Jordan
Sean Moran

Freedom Caucus co-founder Jim Jordan (R-OH) officially launched his bid to become speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday.

“Should the American people entrust us with the majority again in the 116th Congress, I plan to run for Speaker of the House to bring real change to the House of Representatives,” Congressman Jordan said in a statement on Thursday.

“President Trump has taken bold action on behalf of the American people. Congress has not held up its end of the deal, but we can change that. It’s time to do what we said,” Jordan added.

Congressman Jordan sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to fellow Republican lawmakers on Thursday, contending that under his leadership, Republicans will enact more of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.

“We have opportunity right now to renew our commitment and demonstrate to our fellow Americans that we are serious! Tell them we can do better—and we will do better,” Jordan charged.

Congressman Jordan said that with him as speaker, Republicans can:

  • “Actually repeal Obamacare.”
  • Pass “across-the-board” welfare reform that requires able-bodied adults to work to receive benefits.
  • Build a wall on America’s southern border, reform our broken immigration system, and enact a merit-based immigration system.
  • Make the individual tax cuts permanent.
  • End taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood.
  • Cut spending to ensure that “we never see $1 trillion deficits.”

Congressman Jordan said the House is able to operate much better when it is more open and transparent to rank-and-file lawmakers.

“The House will work when power is decentralized—when committee assignments are made on talent, merit, and experience,” the Ohio congressman suggested.

Jordan said, “President Trump has taken bold action on behalf of the American people, Congress has not held its end of the deal, but we can change that”:

The Freedom Caucus co-founder has served as one of the conservative champions in the House, leading the charge for a clean repeal of Obamacare, transitioning to a pro-American immigration system, and holding the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accountable for their actions during the 2016 presidential election.

Reps. Jordan and House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC), as well as other House conservatives, launched articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Wednesday, contending that Rosenstein withheld “embarrassing documents,” knowingly hiding documents from Congress,” abusing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process, and failing to comply with congressional subpoenas.

Jordan said on Wednesday, “The DOJ is keeping information from Congress. Enough is enough. It’s time to hold Mr. Rosenstein accountable for blocking Congress’s constitutional oversight role.”

Jordan confirmed in a June interview with Breitbart News that he planned to be part of “that discussion” for the speakership race. Jordan will face off against House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA).

The Ohio conservative has made headlines throughout his career with a simple promise to the American people that he often repeats: to “do what we told the voters what we said we would do.”

Congressman Jordan told Breitbart News’s Curt Schilling in June:

Right now, the most important thing is we do what we said. We get the right kind of immigration bill across the finish line. We actually make the tax cuts permanent. We fight for the values we told the American people [we would]. We reform welfare. I mean, these are the kind of things we told the American people we were going to do, and, I think, more important than who the speaker is next year is what we do this year because if we don’t do the right things this years we might not have a race for speaker. Maybe it would be a race for minority leader, so let’s stay focused on what we got to do, and everything else will take that step.

Jordan features overwhelming support in the conservative world. In May, more than 11 conservative leaders sent an open letter to the Ohio Republican urging him to run.

“The present House Republican leadership has proven that it’s part of ‘the Swamp.’ Consequently, a vote to promote any member of today’s House GOP leadership is a vote for the Swamp,” the conservative leaders wrote. “It’s time to clean House.”

FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon told Breitbart News in an interview in July that if Jordan were to become the next speaker of the House, he will play a “huge part” in draining the swamp. The grassroots conservative organization backed Jordan for speaker and revealed to Breitbart News that Jordan has nearly unanimous support from its activist base.

Brandon said of Jordan, “Jordan and the Freedom Caucus have never let these folks down. Even if they disagree with them, they never let them down. They vote exactly the way they said they would. That just goes a long, long way.”

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