Sign Up for
Our free email newsletters
In the wake of every House Republican voting against impeaching Donald Trump, it's reasonable to see the GOP as the president's party, remade in his image. But to truly understand the transformation of the Republican Party during the Trump years, we actually should focus on someone else: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Jordan's journey from gadfly loathed by party leadership to ranking committee member, presidential confidant, and party leader exemplifies how the GOP has changed in the Trump Era and how Trumpism won't be easily undone after the 45th president leaves office.
The ideological transformation of the Republican Party has been ongoing for more than a half century. What was once the party of moderates like Dwight Eisenhower and liberals like Nelson Rockefeller, dominated by figures from the two coasts and stalwarts in the Midwest, slowly became a staunchly conservative party centered in the South.
By the time Jordan was first elected to Congress in 2006, the highly conservative Texan George W. Bush was president. But Bush had a pragmatic streak. He cut bipartisan deals on education and immigration reform (which failed thanks to a revolt led by conservative talk radio), added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, and preached compassionate conservatism.
The story of the party's move towards total war politics and Trumpism is the story of how Jordan's breed of politics eclipsed Bush's brand of conservatism.
Jordan was one of the most conservative members of the House during his first two terms. But he was also insignificant with Republicans in the minority. Once the Tea Party wave swept his party to power, however, Jordan was flush with new hardline allies. He was elected to lead the Republican Study Committee, a large conservative group within the new Republican majority.
Within months, he had become a thorn in the side of House Speaker John Boehner, insisting that failing to raise the debt ceiling would not result in the United States defaulting, and opposing a leadership proposal for addressing the matter. His staff even conspired with outside groups to pressure Republicans to vote against Boehner's proposal. Two years later, Jordan was a key player in forcing a government shutdown because President Obama would not agree to delaying and defunding his signature health-care legislation for a year a tactic Boehner had warned would leave leading Democrats grinning because they "can't believe we're this f---ing stupid." Though Republicans were widely perceived to have lost the shutdown battle, Jordan was unrepentant.
He believed that Democrats could be compelled to capitulate through the use of hardline tactics, brinkmanship, and a total unwillingness to compromise.
In 2015, Jordan became the founding chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, a smaller, even more hardline group that would come to fight against numerous leadership initiatives. By that fall, Freedom Caucus members against Jordan's counsel pushed Boehner into early retirement and helped scuttle the candidacy of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to succeed him.
While 70 percent of Freedom Caucus endorsed Paul Ryan to succeed Boehner, it was only after he made them numerous promises to secure their support. Even so, Jordan and his allies would make Ryan's life difficult as they had Boehner's. So much did leadership worry about Jordan that when House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz announced he would resign from Congress in 2017, leadership helped recruit Rep. Trey Gowdy to run for the position to ensure that it wouldn't fall to Jordan.
In an interview after retiring, Boehner called Jordan a "legislative terrorist" and an "asshole."
In an earlier era, a figure like Jordan who constantly picked fights with his own party's leadership would have faced serious repercussions. Banishment to the most insignificant and unpleasant committees, an inability to get things done for his home district, perhaps even a primary challenge.
But in an era with a proliferation of conservative media talk radio, cable news, and digital outlets someone like Jordan could instead become a star by picking the same fights. Conservative media is a business and the best radio and television comes from black and white content strongly voiced opinions, clear convictions, exhortations to principles, things that stir emotion and keep the audience tuned in. That meant that someone like Jordan preached what viewers and listeners the Republican base heard every day. Further, his style of politics made for far more compelling radio or television than a committee chairman or Republican leader explaining why divided government or Senate rules necessitated compromises.
This fit between the business interests of conservative media and his politics made Jordan one of the heroes on the conservative airwaves and a frequent guest. Stardom gave him too much of an independent power base by the mid-2010s for leadership to punish him meaningfully. He didn't need them for fundraising, and any attempt at discipline would've sent him scurrying to the airwaves to fight back. In the end, it might've been leadership who lost the fight because conservative media had the ear of exactly the sorts of voters who showed up in low turnout Republican primaries, the most critical elections in most Republican districts in an era of geographic polarization.
But while conservative media helped to make Jordan impervious to leadership criticism, it didn't make him part of that leadership. His elevation came thanks to Trump. Jordan caught the ear of Trump, and became a confidant and one of the president's fiercest defenders.
When Republicans lost control of the House in 2018 and Ryan and Gowdy retired, new House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and the Republican Steering Committee installed Jordan, with encouragement from Trump, as the ranking member of the Oversight Committee. This was a significant change from 2017, when there was doubt the Steering Committee would choose Jordan given the animosity from many Republicans towards him. And then as impeachment hearings were about to begin in front of the House Intelligence Committee, McCarthy made the unusual move of temporarily removing another Republican to add Jordan to the committee. McCarthy saw great benefit in Jordan's trademark aggressive questioning and vigorous defense of Trump.
During those hearings, Elise Stefanik, long seen as the anti-Jim Jordan, a leadership ally, one of the most moderate Republicans in the House, and someone previously focused on solutions and bipartisanship, became an instant sensation with Jordan-like questioning and charges against Democrats, and even joined him for press conferences. Reporting indicates that this was a savvy move for Stefanik both in her Republican-leaning district and within the House GOP.
While it's unquestionably easier for leadership to be aligned with Jordan in the minority, when they have no responsibility for governing, it's also true that the onetime leadership antagonist is now the top Republican on a key committee and a major spokesman for the House GOP. Stefanik's move exposes how Jordan's tactics are what Republican voters want from their elected officials. Far from an outsider, Jordan is now part of the Republican establishment one that sees politics much more like he does than George W. Bush. And that's not likely to change even when Trump leaves office, be it in 2021 or 2025.
For better or worse, it's Jim Jordan's GOP now.
Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.
Read this article:
How a 'legislative terrorist' conquered the Republican Party - The Week
- Republican-controlled Idaho House passes Texas-style immigration bill Idaho Capital Sun - Idaho Capital Sun - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Georgia judge rules that Republican Brian K. Pritchard voted illegally - The Atlanta Journal Constitution - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Trump pays $175m New York fraud bond as Truth Social stock takes huge hit- live - The Independent - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Judges raise alarm over Trumps attacks - The Washington Post - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Why Trump's alarmist message on immigration may be resonating beyond his base - PBS NewsHour - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- House Republican condemns Democrats sexualization of everything after Easter controversy - Washington Examiner - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Emery County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner and Convention Hosts Large Crowd and a Full Slate of Candidates - ETV News - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Who are the candidates in the West Virginia Republican Governors Forum? - WBOY.com - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- The Republican Justices Are Slow-Walking a Key South Carolina Redistricting Case - Balls & Strikes - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- "Never forget": Trump unloads on Republican "cowards and weaklings" in Easter Sunday meltdown - Salon - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Analysis | The revamped Republican Party turns Trump's lies into a loyalty test - The Washington Post - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Trump and his MAGA movement stormed the Republican establishment. Now they have become it. - The Fulcrum - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Senator Helming and Senate Republican Conference Unveil Legislative Package to Expand Availability and Access to ... - The New York State Senate - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- States that lean Republican report more COVID vaccine-related adverse events, study finds - University of Minnesota Twin Cities - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- House Republican condemns Democrats' 'sexualization of everything' after Easter controversy - Colorado Springs Gazette - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Infuriated House members plot early exits due to Republican dysfunction - Axios - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- State reviewing cop-involved shootings - Waterbury Republican American - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- RNC plan for 2020 denialist to head election integrity unit raises alarms - The Guardian US - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- McConnell casts doubt on border and Ukraine aid deal as GOP fury threatens both - NBC News - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Biden Vetoes Republican Measure to Block Electric Vehicle Charging Stations - The New York Times - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Wilson Co. Republican Party of TN shares controversial meme referencing hangings - News Channel 5 Nashville - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- When is the Nevada primary, caucus? What to know about dual contests. - USA TODAY - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Electability is all Democrats discussed in 2020. In 2024, Republicans don't care - NPR - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Trump racks up endorsements from Republicans in Congress as any resistance that once existed fades - The Associated Press - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- 'Betrayal': Arizona GOP chair resigns after recording of 'offer' to Kari Lake - USA TODAY - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- It's Fair to Ask: Is the Republican Race Over? - The New York Times - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- 'No Time to Go Wobbly': Why Britain Is Lobbying U.S. Republicans on Ukraine - The New York Times - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- The 2024 Republican Primary Was Over Before It Began - The New Yorker - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- More GOP holdouts backing Trump as leaders seek unity - Roll Call - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- House Republicans accuse Penn of 'failure to address antisemitism on its campus' - ABC News - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Four reasons why Nikki Haley may be staying in the race for the Republican nomination | Brookings - Brookings Institution - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- The United Auto Workers union endorsed Biden today - NPR - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- After Early Primary Victories, Republicans in Congress Fall in Line Behind Trump - The New York Times - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Kari Lake is running for U.S. Senate from Arizona. The AZGOP tried to stop her. - NPR - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- New Hampshire exit polls: Republicans were just half of voters in their own primary - Reuters.com - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- NH primary plays outsized role in determining future of the Republican Party - NPR - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Trump wins 2024 New Hampshire primary - The Associated Press - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- House Republicans now have one of the smallest majorities in history - NBC News - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Time to back Trump: Republican donors accept the inevitable - The Guardian US - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Trump wins New Hampshire primary, further solidifying path to 2024 presidential election - Axios - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Does Nikki Haley have a chance in South Carolina's primary? Here's what some voters are saying - ABC News - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Trump and Biden shift focus to general election rematch as Haley fights on - Reuters.com - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Biden: Its clear Trump will be Republican nominee - The Hill - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Election 2024: Haley Heads Home to Keep Up Fight as Trump and Biden Look to Rematch - The New York Times - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- AP Votecast: How and why New Hampshire voted in 2024 primary - The Associated Press - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Why Trump's critics see his New Hampshire win as a positive sign for 2024 - POLITICO - POLITICO - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Republicans zero in on a new border the one with Canada - NBC News - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Arizona Republican Party boss tried to keep Kari Lake out of Senate race by dangling job - The Arizona Republic - January 25th, 2024 [January 25th, 2024]
- Iowa Republican caucus date set for Jan. 15, 2024 - POLITICO - POLITICO - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Republicans sound alarm over DeSantiss sagging campaign - The Hill - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Opinion | Can the Republican Party Reverse Course? - The New York Times - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Reagans Republican Party Wouldnt Think Twice About Aid to Ukraine - Yahoo News - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Trump Wont Campaign at a July 4 Parade, but Other Republican ... - The New York Times - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Nearly a quarter of Republicans say classified docs charges make them more likely to support Trump: poll - The Hill - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Which Republicans Have Pledged to Support Their Nominee - The New York Times - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Calling robust Republican representation in Groton - theday.com - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- John Roberts Is the Last Republican - New York Magazine - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- House Republicans' Impeachment Fever Is a Gift to Democrats - The New Republic - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- 'Boebert wokest Republican yet' The Durango Herald - The Durango Herald - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Ole Town Republican Party in a hole - theday.com - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Republicans Want to Mandate a Single Style of Architecture in ... - POLITICO - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Republicans Are Divided on Impeaching Biden as Panel Begins ... - The New York Times - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Impactful Quartet of Center-Right grassroots groups aim to advance ... - City-sentinel - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Ron DeSantis: 10 things to know about the Republican White House hopeful - The Guardian US - May 24th, 2023 [May 24th, 2023]
- Opinion | The Four Freedoms, According to Republicans - The New York Times - May 24th, 2023 [May 24th, 2023]
- Greene says no one is concerned about debt default in Republican conference - The Hill - May 24th, 2023 [May 24th, 2023]
- Republican concerns may halt permanent extension of expanded ... - New Hampshire Bulletin - May 24th, 2023 [May 24th, 2023]
- The Ever-Growing 2024 Republican Primary Field : The NPR ... - NPR - May 24th, 2023 [May 24th, 2023]
- Why the Republican Job Requirements Push Won't Actually Get ... - TIME - May 24th, 2023 [May 24th, 2023]
- Key Republican urges McCarthy, GOP to hold the line in debt ceiling talks - The Hill - May 24th, 2023 [May 24th, 2023]
- South Carolina GOP Passes 6-Week Abortion Ban, Sends Bill to ... - Democracy Now! - May 24th, 2023 [May 24th, 2023]
- Opinion | Vivek Ramaswamys Long Shot Run at the Republican ... - The New York Times - May 24th, 2023 [May 24th, 2023]
- Ohio Republican attack on higher ed will devastate our widely ... - Ohio Capital Journal - May 24th, 2023 [May 24th, 2023]
- Childless Adults Will Bear the Brunt of Republican Cuts to the Safety ... - The New Republic - May 24th, 2023 [May 24th, 2023]
- Opinion | George Santos Must Be Held Accountable by Republican ... - The New York Times - May 24th, 2023 [May 24th, 2023]
- Republican James Follweiler to be on ballot in Bethlehem City ... - 69News WFMZ-TV - May 24th, 2023 [May 24th, 2023]
- Why Republicans school board takeovers are faltering with voters - Vox.com - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Arizona Republicans have gotten most of what they wanted this year - The Arizona Republic - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Trump-backed Daniel Cameron wins GOP primary for Kentucky governor, will face incumbent Democrat Andy Beshear - Fox News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- DEI divide: Republicans and Democrats split on workplace diversity - USA TODAY - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]