Jim Jordan is quietly laying the groundwork for a run at GOP leader, sources say

Francis Chung/Politico/AP

When House Speaker Mike Johnson decided in September to send lawmakers home early to their districts ahead of the midterm elections, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan quietly made clear that he would have handled the situation differently, according to a source close to Jordan.

In a private conversation with one Republican lawmaker, Jordan said he would have kept lawmakers in Washington longer to hold more votes that would be politically challenging for Democrats. He also expressed interest in holding more votes on President Donald Trump’s elections overhaul bill that has been blocked in the Republican-led Senate, arguing that would help House Republicans on the campaign trail even if the bill won’t be signed into law.

“Jim has a different vision on how he would have gone about this,” the source added.

The episode is part of a delicate dance Jordan and his allies are engaged in behind the scenes. Publicly, Jordan says he is solely focused on helping Republicans keep the majority and supporting Johnson as speaker. But many House Republicans believe that Jordan is laying the groundwork to run for the top leadership spot if they lose the chamber, according to half a dozen lawmakers and aides.

“He clearly wants to be minority leader,” a senior GOP aide told CNN. “He is fully running. He is calling candidates.”

As Republicans grapple with the very real possibility they may lose the House, they are jockeying behind the scenes over who could lead their party in the minority.

Johnson has also said publicly he intends to stay on as GOP leader whether Republicans win or lose the House, setting the stage for a potential clash within the party as other lawmakers eye the top spot.

Asked for comment for this story, a Jordan spokesperson pointed to a previous statement in which Jordan said he was focused on winning in the midterms. A Johnson spokesperson pointed to a previous statement where Johnson said he believes Republicans will keep the majority and that he will remain their leader.

Many House Republicans say the job is Johnson’s regardless of what happens in November, particularly because the speaker has Trump’s backing. Even though Jordan and Trump have a long history of working and socializing together, the president and Johnson have a strong and established relationship.

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

But Jordan allies have made the case to some in Trump’s orbit that Jordan is in a unique position to defend Trump against Democratic investigations if Republicans are in the minority. They point to his experience leading the Judiciary committee and defending the president during both impeachments, two of the sources said.

Johnson recently set off speculation about his political future after the midterms when he said in an interview with Fox News, “Heaven forbid, if we lose this majority or whatever, I don’t know what my next chapter of life is.”

“If God moves on our hearts and says we should, you know, go back to my hometown of Shreveport and start a lawn business, I’ll do that with equal fervor.”

But in that same interview Johnson also projected confidence he will remain speaker.

“I’m going to be the speaker in the next Congress,” Johnson said, when asked if he would run. “I’m not going to talk about the scenario where we don’t win the House, because I am laser-focused on winning the House.”

Attempting to clarify his comments, Johnson said later in an interview with CBS News that his quip about starting a lawn business was meant to illustrate that his top objective, always, is to “be of my highest and best use to God and to my country.”

But Johnson said if “in the unlikely scenario” Republicans lose the House majority, “I would expect my colleagues would call upon me to continue to lead the conference in divided government. My intention is to stay and serve and that’s what I’ve been doing, as best I can.”

And Johnson allies point out that if he had kept the House in longer before the November midterms, Republicans would have had to take divisive votes on the impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Jeffrey Epstein case files. Under Johnson, the House has voted on Trump’s elections overhaul legislation, the SAVE Act, multiple times.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Jordan has yet to launch an outright campaign and his allies insist he is a team player who is not trying to undercut Johnson. But the Ohio Republican’s aggressive travel schedule ahead of the midterms to campaign for candidates running in tight races across the country, along with ramped up donations to vulnerable Republicans, has many in his party taking notice. In this election cycle through September, Jordan donated $1.97 million directly to candidates and $2.65 million to the party’s House campaign arm, according to a source familiar with the matter. Jordan has traveled to 33 states this cycle so far and this week launched a 19-day campaign swing, visiting states from Washington to Florida.

Jordan ran for speaker in 2023 after McCarthy’s historic ouster, but faced opposition from moderate Republicans who didn’t know him well and felt he was too much of a conservative firebrand. Since then, Jordan has worked to mend relationships, including with those who said Jordan’s allies threatened them physically or verbally , by campaigning in their districts and donating to their campaigns.

“I think he is trying to position himself for something,” GOP Rep. Carlos Gimenez, who voted against Jordan for speaker back in 2023 and backs Johnson now, told CNN. “It’s subtle. And maybe not so subtle.”

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is quietly making the case to some Republicans that Jordan would be a good fit to lead Republicans if they lose the majority, according to two sources familiar with the conversations.

But others say Jordan is not proactively pursing any type of personal agenda. And Jordan is keeping his cards close to the vest. He even walks away from colleagues who ask him about his future, according to some sources who have tried to ask.

“Having gotten to know Jim, and seeing him travel the country to help defend our majority’s swing district members, I am confident he’d rather be a rank-and-file member of the majority than have a position in minority leadership,” one GOP lawmaker told CNN.

When members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus were summoned to the White House by Trump to discuss an expiring spy powers program in April, many looked to Jordan to represent their opposition.

Jordan, the only founding member of the group still in Congress, had built his reputation on standing up to leadership, and he had voted against reauthorization of the program in 2024. But now as a chairman, he deferred to Johnson and the White House, according to a GOP lawmaker in the room.

“It’s kind of a different Jim Jordan. The savagery you saw before, I haven’t seen that as much here as of late,” the GOP lawmaker told CNN.

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Since his failed leadership bid in 2023, Jordan has avoided the floor antics and consistent fights with leadership that Freedom Caucus members are regularly engaged in. Instead of leaning into the Republican-led investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, Jordan has barely talked about it and let House Oversight Chair James Comer be the GOP face of the work. When the panel held the high-profile depositions of Bill and Hillary Clinton in February, Jordan was instead campaigning with Republicans in the swing state of Pennsylvania.

That team player and deferential mentality has become a key part of Jordan’s appeal to some reading the tea leaves about his future. He has bought a lot of goodwill, particularly from moderates who were encouraged to see that he did not walk away after they rejected him three years ago. Instead, he took them to dinners, cut them campaign checks, and drove turnout at rallies in their districts to try to bring out base voters.

“He’s taken time to build these relationships and get to know these people,” a senior GOP operative told CNN. “Helping the team out also has the added benefit of, you know, positioning.”

The dynamics in the House Republican conference are also different from the last time Jordan mounted a bid. A number of lawmakers who voted against him are no longer serving in Congress. His trying to serve as minority leader with Trump as president, too, is a very different scenario than in 2023, when former Democratic President Joe Biden was in the White House and the speaker had to operate in a split government.

If Democrats do reclaim the majority, Jordan’s background as a Trump-aligned attack dog and aggressive questioner of witnesses could make him a critical GOP figure, as Democrats target Trump and his administration with a deluge of investigations. Republican leadership heavily relied on Jordan to shape the party’s messaging strategy during the two impeachments of Trump, even temporarily assigning him to the House Intelligence Committee in 2019 so he could be the public face defending the president.

“If you could incubate a minority leader with Trump as president and Jamie Raskin as Judiciary Chair, I don’t know how the person that comes out isn’t Jim Jordan,” a Republican close to leadership told CNN.

When Jordan was campaigning with GOP Rep. Jen Kiggans in her battleground district in Virginia in September, he provided a window into how he would play defense for Trump against Democrats. (Kiggans voted against Jordan for speaker back in 2023 and said at the time that “threats and intimidation tactics” would not work on her).

“It’s unbelievable what he’s been through,” Jordan said about Trump on September 26, detailing the two impeachments and various criminal investigations against him.

Recounting his phone call with Trump the day the FBI searched his home in Mar-a-Lago, Jordan told voters, “When he answers, he doesn’t even say hello. He just goes, ‘Jim this is the best thing that’s ever happened to our party.’ He goes, ‘my numbers are going to go up.’”

The packed room laughed.

But not everyone is buying Jordan’s efforts to present himself as less of a firebrand.

“I don’t think that has translated to any actual policy compromises,” one GOP source told CNN. “I think Jordan has moderated publicly and at the member level, but the staff is the same. The policy is the same.”

Most Republicans argue that Johnson is their leader. But even some of Johnson’s supporters say Jordan brings some important qualities to the table.

“Jim Jordan brings a lot of experience, a lot of wisdom, if you will, to Congress and to the conservative side of the aisle that we need people like Jim Jordan to be in continuing leadership roles at whatever level that might be decided by the conference after the election,” GOP Rep. Jack Bergman told CNN. “I tell you what, I don’t rule out anything because the point is, if you’re asking me who I’m supporting right now, I’m supporting Mike Johnson.”

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Back in February, Jordan was campaigning with GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania instead of questioning Clinton in Chappaqua, New York, as part of the Epstein investigation.

Mackenzie, a freshman in Congress who was not yet elected when Jordan launched his speakership bid back in 2023, said he has gotten to know a different side of the Ohio Republican. The two men have bonded over family (Mackenzie’s young children and Jordan’s grandchildren are around the same age). And Jordan helped Mackenzie usher legislation through the House Judiciary Committee to expand the E-Verify program, a federal system used by employers to confirm a new hire is legally authorized to work in the US.

“I think he is very well respected in our conference. And one of the things that I’ve seen and heard not just with him but other members that go through a leadership race and don’t get the outcome they are looking for, those that continue to stay in the fight and be great members of the conference actually engender and earn even more respect and support. And I think that’s what he’s done in this case,” Mackenzie told CNN in March, reflecting on his campaign visit with Jordan.

Yet, planning for a reality where Republicans won’t be in the minority is a bridge most are still unwilling to cross.

“We won’t be,” GOP Rep. August Pfluger told CNN when asked who he would support if Republicans are in the minority.

Francis Chung/Politico/AP

据一位接近乔丹的消息人士透露，9 月份众议院议长迈克·约翰逊决定让议员们在期中选举前提前返回各自选区时，众议院司法委员会主席吉姆·乔丹私下表示，他会以不同的方式处理这种情况。

乔丹在与一位共和党议员的私下谈话中表示，他本希望议员们在华盛顿停留更长时间，以便举行更多投票，从而给民主党人带来政治挑战。他还表示有兴趣就特朗普总统的选举改革法案举行更多投票，该法案目前在共和党控制的参议院受阻。他认为，即使该法案最终未能签署成为法律，这些投票也能帮助众议院的共和党人在竞选活动中取得进展。

“吉姆对如何处理这件事有不同的想法，”消息人士补充道。

这一事件是乔丹及其盟友在幕后精心策划的博弈的一部分。公开场合，乔丹声称他一心只想帮助共和党保住多数席位，并支持约翰逊担任议长。但据六位议员和助手透露，许多众议院共和党人认为，如果共和党失去众议院的控制权，乔丹正在为竞选最高领导职位做准备。

一位共和党高级助手告诉CNN：“他显然想当少数党领袖。他正在全力以赴地竞选，他正在联系候选人。”

共和党人正努力应对可能失去众议院的现实，他们正在幕后争夺谁能领导少数党。

约翰逊也曾公开表示，无论共和党赢得还是失去众议院，他都打算继续担任共和党领袖，这为党内可能发生的冲突埋下了伏笔，因为其他议员也觊觎最高职位。

就此事征求意见时，乔丹的发言人援引了乔丹此前的声明，乔丹在声明中表示，他目前专注于赢得中期选举。约翰逊的发言人也援引了约翰逊此前的声明，约翰逊在声明中表示，他相信共和党将继续保持多数席位，并且他将继续担任共和党领袖。

许多众议院共和党人表示，无论11月大选结果如何，约翰逊都将胜任议长一职，尤其因为他得到了特朗普的支持。尽管乔丹和特朗普有着长期的共事和交往历史，但总统和约翰逊之间却有着牢固而稳固的关系。

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/法新社/盖蒂图片社

但据两位消息人士透露，乔丹的盟友向特朗普身边的一些人辩称，如果共和党成为少数党，乔丹在应对民主党的调查方面拥有独特的优势，可以为特朗普辩护。他们指出，乔丹曾领导司法委员会，并在两次弹劾案中为总统辩护，这些经验足以证明他的实力。

约翰逊最近在接受福克斯新闻采访时表示：“天哪，如果我们失去了多数席位，我不知道我的人生下一阶段会是什么样。”这番话引发了人们对他中期选举后政治前途的猜测。

“如果上帝感动我们的心，让我们回到我的家乡什里夫波特，开办一家草坪生意，我也会以同样的热情去做。”

但在同一次采访中，约翰逊也表达了自己将继续担任议长的信心。

当被问及是否会参选时，约翰逊说：“我将在下届国会担任议长。我不会谈论我们没能赢得众议院的情况，因为我目前一心只想赢得众议院。”

为了澄清自己的言​​论，约翰逊后来在接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时表示，他关于开办草坪生意的玩笑是为了说明，他始终最重要的目标都是“尽我所能为上帝和我的国家做出最大贡献”。

但约翰逊表示，如果“在不太可能发生的情况下”，共和党失去众议院多数席位，“我希望我的同事们会要求我继续领导党团会议，共同应对分裂的政府局面。我的意图是留下来继续服务，而我也一直在尽我所能地这样做。”

约翰逊的盟友指出，如果他让众议院在11月中期选举前继续留任，共和党人就不得不就弹劾国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯和杰弗里·爱泼斯坦案卷宗进行分裂性投票。在约翰逊的领导下，众议院已多次就特朗普的选举改革法案《拯救选举法案》（SAVE Act）进行投票。

Alex Wong/Getty Images

乔丹尚未正式发起竞选活动，他的盟友坚称他是一位团队合作者，不会试图削弱约翰逊的实力。但这位俄亥俄州共和党人在中期选举前夕的密集行程，包括为全国各地选情胶着的候选人助选，以及加大对处境不利的共和党人的捐款，已经引起了党内许多人的关注。据一位知情人士透露，在本轮选举周期（截至9月）中，乔丹已直接向候选人捐款197万美元，并向共和党众议院竞选机构捐款265万美元。乔丹在本轮选举周期中已走访了33个州，本周开启了为期19天的竞选之旅，访问了从华盛顿州到佛罗里达州的各个州。

在麦卡锡被历史性地罢免后，乔丹于2023年竞选议长，但遭到一些温和派共和党人的反对，这些人对他并不了解，认为他过于激进。此后，乔丹努力修复与各方的关系，包括那些声称乔丹的盟友曾对他们进行人身或言语威胁的人，他通过在这些人的选区开展竞选活动并向他们的竞选活动捐款来与他们和解。

“我认为他是在为自己做某种安排，”共和党众议员卡洛斯·吉梅内斯告诉CNN。吉梅内斯曾在2023年投票反对乔丹竞选议长，现在则支持约翰逊。“这很微妙，或许也并不那么微妙。”

据两位知情人士透露，前众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡正在悄悄地向一些共和党人游说，如果共和党失去多数席位，乔丹将是领导共和党的合适人选。

但也有人表示，乔丹并没有主动追求任何个人目标。而且，乔丹对自己的未来讳莫如深。据一些试图打听他未来的消息人士透露，他甚至会避开那些询问他未来计划的同事。

一位共和党议员告诉 CNN：“我认识吉姆之后，看到他奔走全国各地，帮助我们多数党的摇摆选区议员捍卫他们的利益，我相信他宁愿做多数党的普通成员，也不愿担任少数党领导职务。”

今年四月，特朗普召集极右翼众议院自由党团成员到白宫讨论即将到期的间谍权力计划时，许多人指望乔丹代表他们的反对派。

乔丹是该组织唯一一位仍在国会的创始成员，他以敢于挑战领导层而闻名，并且曾在2024年投票反对该计划的重新授权。但据在场的一位共和党议员称，现在作为主席，他却对约翰逊和白宫言听计从。

“这有点像是另一个吉姆·乔丹了。你以前看到的那种残暴行径，我最近没怎么看到了，”这位共和党议员告诉 CNN。

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

自2023年竞选领导权失败以来，乔丹一直避免参与自由党团成员经常参与的议会辩论和与领导层的持续斗争。他没有积极参与共和党主导的对杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的调查，而是几乎对此只字未提，让众议院监督委员会主席詹姆斯·科默代表共和党负责这项工作。今年2月，当该委员会对比尔·克林顿和希拉里·克林顿进行备受瞩目的取证时，乔丹却在摇摆州宾夕法尼亚州与共和党人一起竞选。

乔丹的团队合作精神和谦逊态度，已成为一些揣测他未来走向的人眼中他最具吸引力的因素之一。他赢得了大量好感，尤其是来自温和派选民的好感。三年前，温和派选民曾拒绝他，但乔丹并没有就此放弃，这让他们感到鼓舞。相反，他邀请他们共进晚餐，给他们捐款，并在他们所在的选区组织集会，努力争取基本盘选民的支持。

一位共和党资深人士告诉CNN：“他花时间建立这些关系，了解这些人。帮助团队还有一个额外的好处，那就是提升自己的政治地位。”

众议院共和党会议的格局也与乔丹上次竞选时大不相同。许多曾投票反对他的议员如今已不再担任国会议员。此外，他试图在特朗普担任总统的情况下担任少数党领袖，这与2023年的情况截然不同。当时，民主党前总统乔·拜登入主白宫，议长必须在两党分治的政府中运作。

如果民主党重新夺回多数席位，乔丹作为特朗普的得力助手和咄咄逼人的质询者，可能会使他成为共和党的关键人物，因为民主党正对特朗普及其政府发起铺天盖地的调查。在特朗普两次弹劾期间，共和党领导层高度依赖乔丹来制定党的舆论策略，甚至在2019年暂时将他调入众议院情报委员会，让他成为公开为总统辩护的代言人。

一位与共和党领导层关系密切的人士告诉 CNN：“如果让特朗普担任总统，杰米·拉斯金担任司法委员会主席，来孵化一位少数党领袖，我不知道最终出来的人怎么可能不是吉姆·乔丹。”

9月，乔丹在弗吉尼亚州共和党众议员珍·基根斯的选区为她助选时，展现了他将如何为特朗普抵御民主党的攻击。（基根斯曾在2023年投票反对乔丹竞选众议院议长，当时她表示“威胁和恐吓手段”对她无效。）

“他所经历的一切令人难以置信，”乔丹在9月26日谈到特朗普时说道，并详细介绍了针对他的两次弹劾和各种刑事调查。

乔丹向选民回忆起联邦调查局搜查特朗普位于海湖庄园的住所当天与特朗普的通话，他说：“他接起电话，连‘你好’都没说，就直接说，‘吉姆，这是我们党有史以来遇到的最好的事情。’他还说，‘我的支持率肯定会上升。’”

挤满人的房间里响起了笑声。

但并非所有人都相信乔丹努力将自己塑造成一个不那么激进的形象。

一位共和党消息人士告诉CNN：“我认为这并没有转化为任何实际的政策妥协。我认为乔丹在公开场合和党员层面上态度有所缓和，但幕僚人员没变，政策也没变。”

大多数共和党人认为约翰逊是他们的领袖。但即使是约翰逊的一些支持者也表示，乔丹也具备一些重要的素质。

共和党众议员杰克·伯格曼告诉CNN：“吉姆·乔丹为国会和保守派阵营带来了丰富的经验和智慧，我们需要像他这样的人继续担任领导职务，无论选举后党团会议决定由哪个层级的领导层来领导。” 他还说：“说实话，我不会排除任何可能性，因为关键是，如果你问我现在支持谁，我会说我支持迈克·约翰逊。”

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

今年二月，乔丹没有像往常一样在纽约州查帕夸质问克林顿，而是和共和党众议员瑞安·麦肯齐在宾夕法尼亚州一起参加竞选活动，当时克林顿正在接受爱泼斯坦案的调查。

麦肯齐是国会新议员，在乔丹2023年宣布竞选议长时他尚未当选。麦肯齐表示，他已经了解了这位俄亥俄州共和党人不为人知的一面。两人因家庭而结缘（麦肯齐的孩子和乔丹的孙辈年龄相仿）。乔丹还帮助麦肯齐推动众议院司法委员会通过了一项法案，旨在扩大E-Verify计划的适用范围。E-Verify是一个联邦系统，雇主可以使用该系统来确认新员工是否拥有在美国合法工作的资格。

“我认为他在我们党内备受尊敬。我观察到，不仅是他，其他一些参与领导权竞选但未能如愿的成员，那些坚持不懈、继续为党做出卓越贡献的人，反而会赢得更多的尊重和支持。我认为他这次就是这么做的。”麦肯齐在三月份接受CNN采访时，回顾了他与乔丹的竞选会面，并如此说道。

然而，大多数人仍然不愿意跨越共和党不再是少数党的现实鸿沟。

“我们不会，”共和党众议员奥古斯特·普弗卢格在被问及如果共和党成为少数党他会支持谁时告诉 CNN。