October 16, 2023 03:20 PM UTC

It's Boebert vs. Buck On "Gym" Jordan, Like It Or Not

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• by: Colorado Pols

Tomorrow, the U.S. House is set to reconvene with the pressing need for the Republican majority to install a new Speaker of the House to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy, after last week’s attempt to find an alternative to controversial far-right Rep. Jim Jordan fell apart and Jordan was eventually nominated by a still-split GOP conference.

Colorado Public Radio’s Caitlyn Kim reports that after caving in without explanation to support Rep. Steve Scalise last week before Scalise pulled himself out of the running, “Gaetz Eight” chaos agent Rep. Ken Buck remains skeptical of Jordan, and there are enough holdouts like Buck that confirmation for Jordan tomorrow can in no way be guaranteed:

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, a founder of the House Freedom Caucus, emerged as the next Republican nominee for House Speaker after the conference spent hours behind closed doors Friday. But like the nominee before him, Jordan currently lacks the votes to win the gavel on the floor. And his possible opposition includes one Colorado Republican.

Rep. Ken Buck left the meeting telling reporters he voted for Georgia Rep. Austin Scott, who launched a last minute bid against Jordan. Scott got 81 votes, compared to Jordan’s 124 in the race for the nomination. Both are far short of the 217 needed among Republicans to win the gavel.

Buck said he had some “big concerns” about Jordan…

We still would like to know how Scalise was able to mollify Buck enough for Buck to publicly signal his support for Scalise just hours before Scalise pulled out of the race. Buck’s stated objection to both Scalise and Jordan was their mutual refusal to admit that Joe Biden is the legitimately elected President of the United States, and we haven’t seen any indication that Scalise ever backed off from the “Big Lie” to win Buck’s support.

The more immediate concern now that Scalise is out of the running is the unvoiced but increasingly glaring disagreement between Buck and Rep. Lauren Boebert. Boebert has emerged as one of Jim Jordan’s key supporters, standing by Jordan through Jordan’s initial rejection by the GOP conference for Scalise and all of last week’s subsequent chaos:

The trouble, of course, is that’s not actually true. 81 Republicans voted against Jordan in the secret ballot election that won Jordan the nomination, and 55 then voted against supporting Jordan in a forthcoming floor vote–ten times the number needed to sink his nomination tomorrow. There’s much reporting today about Jordan trying mightily to overcome objections from moderate Republicans, but there are simply too many Republicans who can’t trust Jordan with the power of the speakership–including, unless he flips like he did for Scalise, Ken Buck.

This is another prime opportunity to point out that Buck’s criticisms of Jordan apply equally to Boebert in every respect, from Boebert’s proud vote to overturn the 2020 presidential election results to Boebert’s wagonload of personal ethics and morality baggage that tracks uncomfortably close to Jordan’s own scandals. Boebert has still never to our knowledge been asked to justify her support for Jordan in light of the continuing allegations that Jordan helped cover up sexual abuse of wrestlers in his charge at Ohio State University. If Buck’s fellow chaos agent Rep. Nancy Mace’s disastrous attempt to respond to questions about Jordan this weekend is any guide, that’s going to be a very rough interview for Boebert:

Wow. Nancy Mace just refused to denounce Jim Jordan for his alleged involvement in the coverup of the sexual abuse of dozens of student athletes at Ohio State: “I can’t speak to that.” pic.twitter.com/SI9iiQcZlr

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) October 8, 2023

If Buck flips to Jordan, it’s another wholesale abandonment of stated principles.

Boebert’s support for Jordan, on the other hand, raises questions Boebert does not want to delve into.