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The New York Times: Representative Jim Jordan and his allies are pushing aggressively to secure his election as the Speaker of the House, employing a high-pressure campaign targeting fellow Republicans who oppose him. Despite winning his party’s nomination, Jordan is still far from securing the 217 votes needed to win the speakership. Activists and lawmakers close to Jordan are using social media and other platforms to call out Republicans blocking his path, urging voters to put pressure on these holdouts. This internal Republican strife is symptifying divisions within the party and has led to a near-standstill in the House of Representatives. Former President Donald Trump is backing Jordan, who is leveraging his closeness to the former president to try to win votes.
The tactics used are not new; Jordan and his allies have long employed high-pressure methods to move the party further to the right. His supporters have even listed the phone numbers of opposing Republicans, encouraging mass calls to pressure them into supporting Jordan. Mainstream Republicans, however, oppose Jordan on principle, disagreeing with him on key policy issues, including funding for the war in Ukraine. Some Republicans are also resistant to the idea of rewarding far-right lawmakers who contributed to the party’s current leadership crisis.
It remains uncertain whether Jordan’s high-pressure tactics will garner him enough support, especially as some Republicans are not inclined toward staging a revolt against him. Nonetheless, Jordan’s supporters are optimistic, asserting that grassroots pressure will eventually bring reluctant lawmakers into line.
The entire article can be read at the link https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/14/us/house-speaker-republicans-jordan.html
