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U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers’ conscience and resolve lasted about a weekend.
After making headlines last Friday and drawing criticism from several members of the Republican Party over his remarks that he would never vote for Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan for speaker and would instead seek to make a deal with Democrats, Rogers on Monday morning backtracked significantly.
In a statement released on social media, Rogers said that he and Jordan had held “two cordial, thoughtful, and productive conversations over the past two days. We agreed on the need for Congress to pass a strong NDAA, appropriations to fund our government’s vital functions, and other important legislation like the Farm Bill.”
Rogers went on to say that he would now support Jordan for speaker.
“Since I was first elected to the House, I have always been a team player and supported what the majority of the Republican Conference agrees to,” Rogers said. “Together, our Republican majority will be stronger to fight Joe Biden’s reckless agenda for America.”
As of late Monday, even with Rogers’ support, it’s unclear if Jordan has acquired enough votes to be elected speaker. Unlike Rogers, several other Republicans have held strong in their resistance to Jordan, believing him to be too radical to hold such a lofty position.
NBC News reported on Monday that unofficial vote counts by Republicans have Jordan within 5-10 votes of being elected speaker. Jordan has used various allies in conservative media – particularly at Fox News, where host Sean Hannity allegedly sent emails to some holdouts applying pressure – to coerce votes in his favor. NBC News reported that several Republicans have expressed irritation with Jordan over the tactics.
Jordan voted to overturn the 2020 election results, has been an outspoken apologist for many of the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol and has been accused by former Ohio State University wrestlers of failing to report serial sexual assault perpetrated by a team doctor when Jordan was an assistant coach at OSU.
