OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The White House and the Republican led House of Representatives are at an impasse over funding the government and now Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan has given them more to be concerned about.
As the deadline to fund the government and avoid a shutdown looms the Republican representative has given President Joe Biden’s administration more to be concerned about.
In an interview with Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo the representative spoke about funding Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into former President Donald Trump as a sticking point.
“Well, there’s been, there’s been a fight over the number. What level we’re actually going to fund at? Look, I want to reduce spending too. I know what the debt problem is. But in a divided government, there’s been a number that’s agreed on to fund the government,” the representative said.
“And frankly, it’s less than the year before, which is, which is a huge step when you got divided when, when, when we control one-half of one-third of the government by five votes. And we’ve actually got to negotiate a number that’s less than Joe Biden and the Democrats spent last year. I think that’s a win. So let’s hold on to that number if we can. There’s some, there’s some debate within our conference, and I get that, let’s hold on to that number if we can. But let’s win the policies,” he said.
“The other policy frankly, we should consider putting on these bills is the policy that says you can’t, you can’t fund the attack on your political opponent, which is exactly what Joe Biden is doing when he’s funding this Jack Smith operation going after his political opponent,” he said.
The infighting in the Republican Party has been heated in the past week, with even House Speaker and Republican California Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s job being threatened.
McCarthy (R-Calif.) has responded after it appeared that Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz threatened to try and have him removed from his position over disagreements with the chamber’s Freedom Caucus.
Punchbowl News managing editor Heather Caygle on Tuesday asked McCarthy about the “constant Twitter threats to oust him” posted by Gaetz and a few others, but the California Republican appeared to dismiss them out of hand.
“Speaker McCarthy asked about @mattgaetz constant Twitter threats to try to oust him: ‘Oh my god, someone tweeted about me? Oh my god, I’m gonna lose the speakership because somebody tweeted about me. That would’ve happened a long time ago,'” she wrote.
Gaetz made it clear earlier this month that McCarthy could be fired if he doesn’t move forward with a vote to launch the inquiry after a number of House committees have uncovered what they claim is ample evidence of nefarious activities, including alleged bribery when he was vice president.
On social media and during a radio interview, Gaetz suggested that McCarthy could face removal for resisting the impeachment push.
“I worked very hard in January to develop a toolkit for House Republicans to use in a productive and positive way,” Gaetz wrote on Truth Social. “I don’t believe we’ve used those tools as effectively as we should have.
“We’ve got to seize the initiative,” he noted further. “That means forcing votes on impeachment. And if @SpeakerMcCarthy stands in our way, he may not have the job long.”
In an interview with talk radio host Todd Starnes, Gaetz noted that Americans he has talked to around the country are “disillusioned with House Republicans right now.”
“They think that we have not put up a substantial battle to defeat the worst elements of this Biden administration,” he added.
Last week, McCarthy declared his support for opening a formal investigation into President Joe Biden’s impeachment.
At a special conference meeting on investigations held by House Republicans on Thursday, McCarthy was also anticipated to make a strong argument that starting an impeachment investigation into Biden is the next sensible step, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The development came as the California Republican has been indicating throughout the recess that he is getting closer to launching such an investigation into the business dealings of the president’s son Hunter, as CNN has previously reported.
