How GOP moderates have Jim Jordan pinned
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) explains how he and a group of moderates, institutionalists, and Biden-district Republicans have succeeded in making the speaker’s gavel such a heavy lift for Jim Jordan.
Over the years, we’ve all heard a lot about Republican members of Congress bucking their party.
For example, when Rep. Matt Gaetz and a handful of far-right Republicans succeeded in deposing then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy two-and-half weeks ago, creating a mess that has paralyzed the House of Representatives.
This week, there was another revolt: one against Jim Jordan, the House GOP’s latest speaker-designate.
But what’s unique about this revolt was who led it: people like Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who is this week’s guest on Deep Dive.
Lawler represents a Biden district just north of New York City. Other Members who joined him in the emerging “NeverJordan” faction are from similar districts, or they’re committee chairs and cardinals and institutionalists who finally became fed up with the far-right faction that thrust the House of Representatives into this mess in the first place.
At POLITICO, we’ve dubbed this “the revenge of the squishes.”
On this episode of Deep Dive, host and Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza joins Rep. Lawler to learn how similarly-minded members of Congress have organized against Jordan and his allies; and how Republicans plan on getting the House back to work.
