I Can’t Wait to Watch Congressional Republicans Tear Each Other to Shreds After the Midterms

2 min readThe only interesting element of the Republican midterm hootenanny down in Dallas is the barely underground agitation regarding what becomes of the party once the current administration finally absents itself. Politico has one very significant sideline report. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Van Heusen) appears to be preparing to shiv Speaker Moses in the next Congress—albeit likely for the position of Minority Leader.Jordan, 62, said in an interview on the sidelines of the Republican midterm convention that he has no plans to seek a waiver of the GOP’s three-term limit on committee leaders to retain the top spot on the Judiciary Committee. Nor, he said, would he seek to return to lead Republicans on the House Oversight Committee. He previously served as ranking member from 2019 to 2020, when he took the GOP reins at Judiciary, and has at least two terms of eligibility remaining there.“No, I don’t plan to do that,” Jordan said. “There’s other people who are very interested in Oversight.”Now, if we assume that a new Democratic House majority will rev up its investigative engine up to its red line, as Minority Leader on both Judiciary and Oversight, Jordan would be free to exercise his only real political talent—being a pain in the ass. It's hard to believe he would give up that opportunity without his eyes on a bigger prize.The decision is likely to stoke speculation about another potential leadership run for Jordan, who is seeking his 11th term this fall. He unsuccessfully sought the speakership after Kevin McCarthy’s 2023 ouster, and there has been open chatter in recent months that he is quietly setting the grounds to make another run at the top job.The stakes get higher as the power shrinks. Let the bloodletting begin.