GOP has a 'strategic humiliation' plan designed to hijack Jim Jordan: experts
"The Bulwark's" Charlie Sykes believes there are some Republican members who are waiting on the third ballot of the speaker race before they abandon Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) – deliberately causing him further embarrassment.
Jordan received fewer votes in Wednesday's second speaker vote than on his first ballot on Tuesday. While he gained four members, he also lost five. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) believes that there will likely be more votes lost in the third ballot.
Politico's Sarah Ferris and Meredith Lee also reported that Jordan's detractors believe he will lose more votes on the third ballot. "One House GOP member, granted anonymity to speak candidly, predicted 10 to 15 'no' votes on a third ballot. 'I won't vote for him again,'" the GOP lawmaker said, according to the report.
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MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace cited a CNN report that Republican lawmakers intend to stagger their "no" votes against Jordan so not all the "no" votes are from the same member who could then be targeted specifically by Donald Trump, Fox hosts or Jordan allies.
"Which is a plan that seems like strategic humiliation for him so that the numbers continue to fall," said Wallace.
Sykes confirmed he was hearing the same about the third ballot being even more embarrassing.
"I don't know that there is a point for many of these people. You know, I agree, you know, Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is not a tactician," said Sykes. "He is not a deep thinker. I don't think that he necessarily gamed this out except for what it would do for him. To the extent there is a strategy or a tactic of bringing these votes to the floor, they think that by forcing people to go on the record they can attack them. And they can mobilize the right-wing media system to bully them. To attack them. And it's worked in the past. It worked for Donald Trump. It worked for Kevin McCarthy, and Jim Jordan's thinking it will work for me. I will browbeat them. I will threaten them, and they will cave."
In fact, there have been a number of examples of members who said that Jordan or his people threatened their spouses.
"Reporting is probably accurate there are more members who are watching the totals, you know, looking to see how vulnerable he is, and then planning to make their move in the third or fourth ballot," said Sykes. "Whether that's to humiliate him or not, that's not clear."
He went on to cite the strategy for Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), who is the Speaker pro-temp. Currently, his only power is to hold a vote for Speaker. There is a pitch from a Republican, that the Democrats agree to, to keep McHenry on for a small amount of time with increased powers to pass some of the most necessary funding measures.
"The further he gets away from 217, the more momentum for Patrick McHenry's option," said Sykes, citing the amount of votes Jordan needs to become speaker. "Once you empower Patrick McHenry, a lot of things happen. Not just the humiliation of Jim Jordan, but the growing irrelevancy of the caucus in the house that has imagined it held the balance of power. If in fact Jim Jordan fails, there might be a shift here where people realize we don't have to care what Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene think anymore."
Whatever the plan is, it won't work, one Democratic Congresswoman explained.
"I don't know that there is a plan," said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX). "I mean, what we've seen from the Republicans thus far is that they lack all strategy, right? Because what is the strategy of coming to the floor and being humiliated? What is the strategy of not being able to count? I mean, when you think about McCarthy and the fact that he was booted from his speakership in the first place. He had 48 legislative hours before he had to bring that motion up. I don't understand how you can allow someone to file a motion to vacate and then you don't take the time to make sure that you have your votes as the Speaker of the House."
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