Scoop: GOP speculation erupts over Johnson-Jordan campaign trip
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Reps. Mike Johnson and Jim Jordan in 2022. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
DETROIT — Some of House Speaker Mike Johnson's top House Republicans are privately wondering why he barnstormed Michigan over the weekend with Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
Why it matters: Jordan's next moves are a mini-obsession among some House Republicans.
- They see Jordan not-so-subtly positioning himself for a bigger leadership role, senior staff and lawmakers tell us.
But in today's GOP, Johnson's best way to ensure he remains leader of his party is to keep the majority. He needs the energy — and crowds — Jordan can command.
- "Jim Jordan is one of my closest personal friends. He's been, in some ways, a mentor to me, and in many ways, a brother. We work very well together," Johnson told Axios in an interview.
- "I'm running for chairman of the Judiciary Committee," Jordan told Axios. "We're gonna win, you can feel that."
On a whirlwind Saturday, the two held events for House GOP candidates Tom Barrett and Paul Junge, a fundraiser for Rep. John James, and a rally for a larger group.
- As we told you last month in Axios Sneak Peek, Jordan has dramatically expanded who he'll campaign and fundraise for in the House GOP.
- "I've been asked by so many members to come into their district and help them raise money," he told us in Michigan.
For months, some Republicans have viewed every Jordan move through the lens of what it means for his leadership ambitions.
Zoom in: Johnson has received assurances from Jordan that he wouldn't face a challenge in a leadership race, sources close to both camps tell us.
- If the GOP holds the House, Johnson's the front-runner for speaker. That sets up a potential Jordan challenge to Majority Leader Steve Scalise. (Jordan also denies interest in Scalise's job.)
- If the GOP loses the House, Scalise's party leader job becomes a potential three-way race if Johnson and Jordan enter the picture.
The bottom line: "He's [Jordan's] very active, he's been in New York, he was in California, so he's playing the game," one Republican member told Axios.
- It's "smart on [Johnson's] part to keep [Jordan] close. He may run against Scalise where he only needs a majority of R's to win," another senior member told Axios.
- "Jordan has probably learned ... that it is good to lay the groundwork for such a time as there is a vacant leadership post," a third senior GOP lawmaker told Axios.
