WASHINGTON, D.C. — After three separate elections this week in an effort to elect Ohio’s Republican Jim Jordan as the new House Speaker, District 6 Congressman Seth Moulton (D) voiced his frustrations with House Republicans, Jordan, and a situation that Moulton called a “perfect storm of dysfunction.”
Earlier this month, the House voted 216-210 to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Eight Republicans voted with 208 Democrats to remove McCarthy, marking the first time in history that the House removed its leader.
House Republicans dropped Jordan — whose embrace of hard-line spending cuts and shutting down the government has branded him as an extremist among a portion of his GOP peers on Capitol Hill — as their nominee Friday.
“Extremists like Jordan who cannot even get their own bills passed will not lead, they will divide”
Congressman Seth Moulton
In an email to The Item, Moulton said the party’s refusal to reach across the political aisle to elect a new speaker has hindered the House of Representatives’ ability to serve, leading to an inability to make domestic funding and international aid decisions.
“Democrats have been working for weeks to try to get Republicans to come to the table with a bipartisan compromise to elect a Speaker, keep the government funded, provide aid to Israel and Ukraine, and to do what we’re here to do: to legislate. The problem is that the Republican party is in the midst of a civil war, a perfect storm of dysfunction,” Moulton said.
Moulton has also exhibited an increased social media presence this week. On Thursday, the Congressman quote-tweeted New York Republican Congresswoman Elise Stfanik’s post vowing her support for Jordan and refusal to “create a Democrat backed coalition government.”
“Getting a lot of questions these days about why Democrats can’t ‘help’ with this mess,” Moulton responded on Twitter (now rebranded as X). “This is why. Republicans are saying out loud that they would rather not govern at all than govern alongside Democrats.”
The Congressman’s frustration with House Republicans’ refusal to cross the aisle coincides with his lack of support for Jordan. In a separate tweet published Friday morning, Moulton said Jordan was a “divider, not a unifier.”
Moulton also alluded to the fact that Jordan was one of the 147 Republicans to vote to reject the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania and Arizona.
“Jim Jordan has spent more time plotting how to overturn an election than passing legislation. He’s voted against veterans’ healthcare and supports the most extreme abortion restrictions,” Moulton wrote.
In a written statement sent to The Item on Friday, Moulton called on his moderate Republican colleagues to work with Democrats and compromise on a nominee that both sides can agree on.
“ I voted against Jim Jordan’s bid for Speaker three times because he is unfit for the job. We need someone we can work with, who can lead the entire House of Representatives — that’s the job of the Speaker. Extremists like Jordan who cannot even get their own bills passed will not lead, they will divide,” Moulton said. “Sadly, just yesterday, multiple Republicans said they strongly oppose any attempt to work with Democrats. I hope that my moderate Republican colleagues who have boldly refused to vote for Jordan – many of whom I often work with – can find the courage to work with us on a solution that serves the House and the American people.”
