The ousting of Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker on October 3, after eight Republican rebels joined Democrats to pass a historic "motion to vacate" removing him, sparked immediate concern in Ukraine over whether his successor would continue supporting U.S. military aid for the beleaguered country.
Thus far, two House Republicans have announced they are seeking to be McCarthy's replacement, with the ex-Speaker himself saying he won't run again for the job. The declared candidates are Representative Jim Jordan, who chairs the powerful House Judiciary Committee, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who has routinely voted in support of American aid for Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces are making gradual progress, but have yet to achieve a breakthrough, in their military counter-offensive which got underway in June. Kyiv is heavily dependent on foreign financial and military aid, primarily from the U.S. and Europe, and an end to American support could sharply undermine their battlefield position. On Thursday, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry reported 51 people were killed, including a child, when a Russian strike hit a grocery store in the village of Hroza in Kharkiv region.
Jordan, a founding member of the hardline conservative Freedom Caucus, has voted against nearly all bills offering assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, though he did back an early 2022 proposal to send some equipment to Kyiv as part of a lend-lease deal. Newsweek has reached out to Representative Jordan's Washington D.C. office for comment by telephone and voicemail message.
Speaking to reporters in Washington D.C. earlier this week, Jordan said he won't move forward with an additional aid package for Ukraine if elected Speaker, commenting: "The most pressing issue on Americans' minds is not Ukraine. It is the border situation and crime on the streets."
The Ohio Republican expended on this point during an interview with Fox News, when he asked: "Why should we be sending American tax dollars to Ukraine when we don't even know what the goal is?
"No one can tell me what the objective is. Is it some kind of negotiated peace? Is it driving them out of eastern Ukraine? Is it driving them out of Crimea?... So until you can tell me the goal, I don't think we should continue to send money there particularly when we have the problems we have on our border so that's fundamental.
"And then, second, how is the money that's already been sent, how has it been spent? What kind of waste is going on? Those are two fundamental questions that I think the American taxpayers want to know the answers to before they send any more of their hard-earned money there."
The conservative campaign group 'Defending Democracy Together,' which supports aid for Ukraine, gave Jordan an "F" or "very poor" rating over his lack of backing for Kyiv, accusing the congressman of having made "anti-Ukraine comments." By contrast, Scalise was awarded a B by the group.
On Thursday, Jordan was endorsed by Donald Trump, whom he has repeatedly defended, on his Truth Social website. The former president and 2024 Republican frontrunner wrote: "He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!"
However, speaking at the University of Minnesota on Wednesday, former House Republican Liz Cheney said Jordan could not be relied upon to safeguard the U.S. Constitution. Referring to the possibility of him becoming Speaker, she said: "If they were to decide that, there would no longer be any possible way to argue that a group of elected Republicans could be counted on to defend the Constitution."
