Ohio Representative Jim Jordan said he would be against providing another aid package to Ukraine.
Yesterday, Jordan officially announced his bid for Speaker of the House after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was removed.
On Wednesday afternoon, Jordan spoke with reporters who asked the Ohio representative about his run for Speaker. One reporter asked if the Ohio representative would move forward with another aid package to Ukrain.
“I’m against that,” Jordan said. “What I understand is at some point we’re going to have to deal with this appropriation process in the right way.”
The Ohio representative said House Republicans needed to come to an agreement in the next 41 days before the government runs out of funds.
“The most pressing issue on American’s mind is not Ukraine,” he continued. “It is the border situation, and it is crime on the streets.”
"I'm against that," Jim Jordan, a candidate for speaker, says of an aid package for Ukraine, going further than McCarthy.
"The most pressing issue on Americans' mind is not Ukraine — it is the border situation, it's crime on streets."
Said he would see what Senate sends to House pic.twitter.com/qpOrNZoyIc— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 4, 2023
During a Thursday morning appearance on Fox News, the Ohio representative reiterated his stance.
Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy noted some House Republicans might “tank” a prospective Speaker’s bid for the seat if they supported aid for Ukraine.
“Why should we be sending American tax dollars to Ukraine when we don’t even know what the goal is?” Jordan said. “No one can tell me what the objective is.”
“Is it some kind of negotiated peace? Is it drive [Russians] out of eastern Ukraine?” he continued. “Is it drive [Russians] out of Crimea, which they’ve had for 10 years now when they took [it] during the Obama administration. What is the objective?”
“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,” he said.
Jordan also expressed concern over how funds already provided to Ukraine have been spent.
“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,” he added.
Rep. @Jim_Jordan: “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 the eastern Ukraine? Is it driving them out of Crimea?” pic.twitter.com/Waibxernkn
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 5, 2023
On Wednesday, Jordan sent a letter to House Republicans citing successes made during the 118th Congress since January, though detailed “far-left progressive policies [that] are destroying our communities, our security, and our future.”
“We have soaring crime across the country. We have an administration with open-border policies that have caused chaos and left our country vulnerable,” Jordan wrote. “We’ve seen federal agencies turned on the American people—silencing speech online, targeting parents at school board meetings, and flagging pro-life Catholics as potential threats and we’ve witnessed blatant double standards in federal law enforcement. We continue to spend too much money and Americans are suffering under President Biden’s economy.”
The Ohio representative’s letter went on to detail other problems plaguing Americans and the House.
“We are at a critical crossroad in our nation’s history,” Jordan wrote. “Now is the time for our Republican conference to come together to keep our promises to Americans.”
“I respectfully ask for your support for Speaker of the House of Representatives,” he added.
Shortly after the House voted to vacate the office of Speaker of the House, McCarthy announced he would not run for Speaker again.
“Unfortunately, 4% of our conference can join all the Democrats and dictate who can be the Republican Speaker in this House,” McCarthy said after his removal. “I believe I can continue to fight, maybe in a different manner.”
“I will not run for Speaker again. I’ll have the conference pick somebody else,” he added.
McCarthy is the first Speaker in U.S. history to be vacated from the seat.
