Conservative lays out roadmap for House GOPers to retain power while blocking Jim Jordan

Reflecting on the chaos in the U.S. House of Representatives, where the Republican majority can't decide on a new speaker, a noted conservative commentator and University of Texas law professor laid out a suggested course of action for GOP moderates to take the bull by the horns and break the deadlock.

In an effort to forestall the possibility that far-right extremist Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) -- who already is struggling to reach 217 votes -- might be the new speaker, Bill Kristol and Professor Jeffrey K Tulis suggested that moderates make a deal and make House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries the next speaker with strict conditions for sharing power.

Labeling Jordan as "Trump co-conspirator" who should be nowhere near the seat of power, the two authors of the Bulwark column noted that Jeffries has the full support of his caucus and needs only five votes to become speaker -- something that no Republican House member can match.

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With that in mind, and with an eye on the 2024 election that could see the Republican Party rejected by voters tired of the GOP in-fighting and dysfunction, the two explained how such a deal with Jeffries and the Democrats could be arrived at.

"In this scenario, Republicans who cross over to elect Jeffries would presumably need some guarantees in exchange for their vote—including a promise from the Democrats that they would retain their committee assignments," they wrote before adding, "The Republican defectors would also presumably want to make clear that they reserve the right to join their Republican colleagues (or former colleagues, if they’re expelled from the GOP conference and are serving as some sort of independents) in opposing Democratic legislation with which they disagree. And a Speaker Jeffries would presumably commit to Republican co-chairmanships of certain committees and perhaps equal membership of the parties on them."

Adding that Republicans and Democrats could also agree on a "consensus speaker," they admitted that the MAGA crowd may come after any Republican defectors but argued that "any fear of such attempts should be weighed against the legacy of complicity with electing as speaker someone not committed to the Constitution or to the peaceful transfer of power."

You can read their proposal here.