2026-10-15T09:00:45.309Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
当地时间9月，众议院议长迈克·约翰逊决定让议员们在中期选举前提前返回各自选区，据一位与乔丹关系密切的消息人士透露，众议院司法委员会主席吉姆·乔丹曾私下明确表示，他本会以不同方式处理这一情况。
在与一名共和党议员的私下交谈中，乔丹称他本应让议员们留在华盛顿更久，以举行更多对民主党而言政治上颇具挑战的投票。他还表示希望就唐纳德·特朗普总统的选举改革法案举行更多投票，该法案此前已在共和党掌控的参议院受阻。乔丹辩称，即便该法案无法签署成为法律，此举也能帮助众议院共和党人在竞选活动中占据优势。
“吉姆对处理此事的方式有着不同的看法，”该消息人士补充道。
这一事件是乔丹及其盟友正在幕后进行的微妙博弈的一部分。公开场合，乔丹称他仅专注于帮助共和党保住众议院多数席位，并支持约翰逊担任议长。但据六名议员和助手透露，许多众议院共和党人认为，如果共和党失去众议院席位，乔丹正为竞选最高领导职位做准备。
“他显然想成为少数党领袖，”一名资深共和党助手告诉CNN。“他已全面投入竞选。他正在联络候选人。”
随着共和党人切实面临失去众议院控制权的可能性，他们正私下暗中角逐，以期在少数党状态下领导本党。
约翰逊也曾公开表示，无论共和党在众议院选举中胜败，他都打算继续担任共和党领袖，这为其他议员觊觎最高职位埋下了党内潜在冲突的伏笔。
当被要求就此次报道置评时，乔丹的发言人援引了乔丹此前的一份声明，称其专注于在中期选举中获胜。约翰逊的发言人则援引了约翰逊此前的一份声明，约翰逊在声明中表示他相信共和党将保住多数席位，并将继续担任该党领袖。
许多众议院共和党人称，无论11月选举结果如何，议长职位都非约翰逊莫属，尤其是因为议长得到了特朗普的支持。尽管乔丹和特朗普有着长期的共事和私交，但总统与约翰逊之间的关系牢固且稳固。
但乔丹的盟友已向特朗普阵营中的一些人表明，如果共和党沦为少数党，乔丹处于独特的地位，能够在民主党发起的调查中为特朗普辩护。两名消息人士称，他们援引乔丹领导司法委员会以及在两次弹劾案中为总统辩护的经历作为论据。
约翰逊最近在接受福克斯新闻采访时谈及中期选举后的政治前途，引发了外界对其未来的猜测：“如果真的不幸，我们失去多数席位或其他情况，我不知道我人生的下一章会是什么。”
“如果上帝指引我们，让我回到我的家乡什里夫波特，开一家草坪护理店，我也会满怀热忱地去做。”
但在同一场采访中，约翰逊也表达了他将继续担任议长的信心。
“我将成为下一届国会的议长，”当被问及是否会参选时，约翰逊说道。“我不会讨论我们未能赢得众议院的情况，因为我全神贯注于赢得众议院的控制权。”
为澄清其言论，约翰逊后来在接受CBS新闻采访时表示，他关于开设草坪护理店的玩笑意在表明，他的首要目标始终是“为上帝和我的国家发挥最大、最好的作用”。
但约翰逊表示，如果“在不太可能发生的情况下”共和党失去众议院多数席位，“我预计我的同事们会呼吁我继续领导处于分裂政府状态下的议会。我的意图是留下来履职，这也是我一直在尽最大努力做的事。”
约翰逊的盟友指出，如果约翰逊在11月中期选举前让众议院继续开会更长时间，共和党人将不得不就弹劾国防部长皮特·赫格斯西和杰弗里·爱泼斯坦案件文件进行分歧严重的投票。在约翰逊的领导下，众议院已多次就特朗普的选举改革法案《拯救法案》进行投票。
乔丹尚未发起公开竞选，他的盟友坚称他是一名团队合作者，并未试图削弱约翰逊的地位。但这位俄亥俄州共和党人在中期选举前为全美竞争激烈选区的候选人竞选的密集行程，以及向弱势共和党人增加捐款的举动，已引起党内许多人的注意。据一位知情人士透露，在截至9月的本次选举周期中，乔丹已直接向候选人捐赠197万美元，并向众议院共和党竞选机构捐赠265万美元。本次选举周期至今，乔丹已前往33个州，本周他启动了为期19天的竞选行程，从华盛顿州前往佛罗里达州。
2023年，在麦卡锡被历史性罢免后，乔丹曾竞选议长，但遭到温和派共和党人的反对，他们对乔丹不甚了解，认为他过于保守激进。自那以后，乔丹一直在努力修复关系，包括通过前往这些议员的选区竞选并为他们的竞选活动捐款，来修复那些曾称乔丹的盟友对其进行人身或言语威胁的议员之间的关系。
“我认为他正在为某个职位布局，”2023年投票反对乔丹担任议长、如今支持约翰逊的共和党众议员卡洛斯·希梅内斯告诉CNN。“这很微妙。或许也没那么微妙。”
据两名知情人士透露，前众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡正悄悄向一些共和党人表明，如果共和党失去多数席位，乔丹将是领导共和党人的合适人选。
但其他人表示，乔丹并未主动追求任何个人议程。乔丹也对自己的计划守口如瓶。据一些试图询问他的消息人士透露，他甚至会避开向他询问未来计划的同事。
“在了解吉姆之后，看到他走遍全国帮助捍卫我们多数党中的摇摆选区议员，我相信他宁愿成为多数党中的普通议员，也不愿在少数党领导层中任职，”一名共和党议员告诉CNN。
今年4月，当极右翼的众议院自由核心小组成员被特朗普召集到白宫讨论一项即将到期的间谍权力项目时，许多人指望乔丹代表他们表达反对意见。
作为该小组仍在国会任职的唯一创始成员，乔丹一直以反抗领导层而闻名，他曾在2024年投票反对重新授权该项目。但据在场的一名共和党议员透露，如今作为委员会主席，他听从了约翰逊和白宫的意见。
“现在的吉姆·乔丹有点不一样了。你以前见过的那种尖锐强硬，最近已经不多见了，”这名共和党议员告诉CNN。
自2023年竞选领导职位失败以来，乔丹避免了自由核心小组成员经常参与的议会闹剧和与领导层的持续冲突。他几乎没有提及共和党主导的杰弗里·爱泼斯坦调查，而是让众议院监督委员会主席詹姆斯·科默成为这项工作的共和党代言人。今年2月，当众议院就比尔·克林顿和希拉里·克林顿进行高调证词质询时，乔丹却在摇摆州宾夕法尼亚州与共和党议员一同竞选。
这种团队合作和顺从的态度，成为一些解读乔丹未来动向的人眼中他的核心吸引力。他已经积累了大量好感，尤其是温和派议员，他们很高兴看到乔丹在三年前被他们否决后并未退缩。相反，他邀请他们共进晚餐，为他们的竞选活动捐款，并在他们的选区的集会上动员选民，以争取基础选民的支持。
“他花时间建立这些关系，了解这些人，”一名资深共和党幕僚告诉CNN。“帮助团队也有额外的好处，你懂的，就是为自己布局。”
众议院共和党会议的局势也与乔丹上次参选时不同。许多投票反对他的议员已经不再担任国会议员。如果特朗普再次担任总统，乔丹试图担任少数党领袖的情况，也与2023年截然不同——当时民主党前总统乔·拜登在白宫，议长不得不在分裂政府中运作。
如果民主党重新夺回多数席位，乔丹作为特朗普盟友的激进派代表以及对证人的尖锐提问者的背景，可能会使他成为共和党关键人物，因为民主党将针对特朗普及其政府发起大量调查。在特朗普的两次弹劾案中，共和党领导层严重依赖乔丹来塑造本党的信息战略，甚至在2019年临时将他任命到众议院情报委员会，让他成为为总统辩护的公众面孔。
“如果你能培养出一位在特朗普担任总统、杰米·拉斯金担任司法委员会主席时的少数党领袖，我不知道最终出来的人会不是吉姆·乔丹，”一位接近领导层的共和党人士告诉CNN。
今年9月，当乔丹在弗吉尼亚州的摇摆选区与共和党众议员珍·基根斯一同竞选时，他透露了自己将如何为特朗普抵御民主党攻击的思路。（基根斯在2023年投票反对乔丹担任议长，并当时表示“威胁和恐吓战术”对她不起作用）。
9月26日，乔丹在谈到特朗普时说道：“他所经历的一切令人难以置信”，并详细讲述了特朗普的两次弹劾和各种刑事调查。
乔丹还向选民回忆了联邦调查局搜查海湖庄园家中的那天，他与特朗普的通话：“他接电话时甚至都不说你好，直接就说‘吉姆，这对我们党来说是有史以来最棒的事情。’他还说，‘我的支持率会上升的。’”
座无虚席的会场响起了笑声。
但并非所有人都认可乔丹试图塑造自己不再是激进派的努力。
“我认为这并未转化为实际的政策妥协，”一名共和党消息人士告诉CNN。“我认为乔丹在公开场合和议员层面都有所缓和，但他的团队还是老样子。政策立场也还是老样子。”
大多数共和党人都认为约翰逊是他们的领袖。但即使是约翰逊的一些支持者也表示，乔丹具备一些重要的品质。
“吉姆·乔丹为国会和保守派阵营带来了大量经验和智慧，如果需要的话，我们需要吉姆·乔丹这样的人继续担任领导职务，无论级别高低，这都将由选举会议在选举后决定，”共和党众议员杰克·伯格曼告诉CNN。“说实话，我不会排除任何可能性，因为重点是，如果你问我目前支持谁，我支持迈克·约翰逊。”
早在今年2月，乔丹本应参与爱泼斯坦调查，前往纽约州查帕夸质询克林顿夫妇，但他却前往宾夕法尼亚州与共和党众议员瑞安·麦肯齐一同竞选。
麦肯齐是国会 freshman，在2023年乔丹发起议长竞选时还未当选。他表示，他了解到了这位俄亥俄州共和党人不同的一面。两人因家庭话题结缘（麦肯齐年幼的孩子和乔丹的孙辈年龄相仿）。乔丹还帮助麦肯齐在众议院司法委员会推动了一项扩大电子验证计划的立法，该联邦系统由雇主用于确认新雇员在美国合法工作的资格。
“我认为他在我们的会议中非常受尊重。我看到和听到的是，不仅是他，还有其他经历过领导层竞选却未达到预期结果的成员，那些继续留在斗争中并成为会议优秀成员的人，实际上会赢得更多的尊重和支持。我认为他在这次选举中就是这么做的，”麦肯齐在3月份接受CNN采访时，谈到与乔丹一同竞选的经历时说道。
然而，针对共和党沦为少数党的局面进行规划，仍是大多数人不愿触及的话题。
“我们不会输的，”当被问及如果共和党成为少数党，他会支持谁时，共和党众议员奥古斯特·普弗勒告诉CNN。
Jim Jordan is quietly laying the groundwork for a run at GOP leader, sources say
2026-10-15T09:00:45.309Z / CNN
When House Speaker Mike Johnson decided in September to send lawmakers home early to their districts ahead of the midterm elections, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan quietly made clear that he would have handled the situation differently, according to a source close to Jordan.
In a private conversation with one Republican lawmaker, Jordan said he would have kept lawmakers in Washington longer to hold more votes that would be politically challenging for Democrats. He also expressed interest in holding more votes on President Donald Trump’s elections overhaul bill that has been blocked in the Republican-led Senate, arguing that would help House Republicans on the campaign trail even if the bill won’t be signed into law.
“Jim has a different vision on how he would have gone about this,” the source added.
The episode is part of a delicate dance Jordan and his allies are engaged in behind the scenes. Publicly, Jordan says he is solely focused on helping Republicans keep the majority and supporting Johnson as speaker. But many House Republicans believe that Jordan is laying the groundwork to run for the top leadership spot if they lose the chamber, according to half a dozen lawmakers and aides.
“He clearly wants to be minority leader,” a senior GOP aide told CNN. “He is fully running. He is calling candidates.”
As Republicans grapple with the very real possibility they may lose the House, they are jockeying behind the scenes over who could lead their party in the minority.
Johnson has also said publicly he intends to stay on as GOP leader whether Republicans win or lose the House, setting the stage for a potential clash within the party as other lawmakers eye the top spot.
Asked for comment for this story, a Jordan spokesperson pointed to a previous statement in which Jordan said he was focused on winning in the midterms. A Johnson spokesperson pointed to a previous statement where Johnson said he believes Republicans will keep the majority and that he will remain their leader.
Many House Republicans say the job is Johnson’s regardless of what happens in November, particularly because the speaker has Trump’s backing. Even though Jordan and Trump have a long history of working and socializing together, the president and Johnson have a strong and established relationship.
But Jordan allies have made the case to some in Trump’s orbit that Jordan is in a unique position to defend Trump against Democratic investigations if Republicans are in the minority. They point to his experience leading the Judiciary committee and defending the president during both impeachments, two of the sources said.
Johnson recently set off speculation about his political future after the midterms when he said in an interview with Fox News, “Heaven forbid, if we lose this majority or whatever, I don’t know what my next chapter of life is.”
“If God moves on our hearts and says we should, you know, go back to my hometown of Shreveport and start a lawn business, I’ll do that with equal fervor.”
But in that same interview Johnson also projected confidence he will remain speaker.
“I’m going to be the speaker in the next Congress,” Johnson said, when asked if he would run. “I’m not going to talk about the scenario where we don’t win the House, because I am laser-focused on winning the House.”
Attempting to clarify his comments, Johnson said later in an interview with CBS News that his quip about starting a lawn business was meant to illustrate that his top objective, always, is to “be of my highest and best use to God and to my country.”
But Johnson said if “in the unlikely scenario” Republicans lose the House majority, “I would expect my colleagues would call upon me to continue to lead the conference in divided government. My intention is to stay and serve and that’s what I’ve been doing, as best I can.”
And Johnson allies point out that if he had kept the House in longer before the November midterms, Republicans would have had to take divisive votes on the impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Jeffrey Epstein case files. Under Johnson, the House has voted on Trump’s elections overhaul legislation, the SAVE Act, multiple times.
Jordan has yet to launch an outright campaign and his allies insist he is a team player who is not trying to undercut Johnson. But the Ohio Republican’s aggressive travel schedule ahead of the midterms to campaign for candidates running in tight races across the country, along with ramped up donations to vulnerable Republicans, has many in his party taking notice. In this election cycle through September, Jordan donated $1.97 million directly to candidates and $2.65 million to the party’s House campaign arm, according to a source familiar with the matter. Jordan has traveled to 33 states this cycle so far and this week launched a 19-day campaign swing, visiting states from Washington to Florida.
Jordan ran for speaker in 2023 after McCarthy’s historic ouster, but faced opposition from moderate Republicans who didn’t know him well and felt he was too much of a conservative firebrand. Since then, Jordan has worked to mend relationships, including with those who said Jordan’s allies threatened them physically or verbally, by campaigning in their districts and donating to their campaigns.
“I think he is trying to position himself for something,” GOP Rep. Carlos Gimenez, who voted against Jordan for speaker back in 2023 and backs Johnson now, told CNN. “It’s subtle. And maybe not so subtle.”
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is quietly making the case to some Republicans that Jordan would be a good fit to lead Republicans if they lose the majority, according to two sources familiar with the conversations.
But others say Jordan is not proactively pursing any type of personal agenda. And Jordan is keeping his cards close to the vest. He even walks away from colleagues who ask him about his future, according to some sources who have tried to ask.
“Having gotten to know Jim, and seeing him travel the country to help defend our majority’s swing district members, I am confident he’d rather be a rank-and-file member of the majority than have a position in minority leadership,” one GOP lawmaker told CNN.
When members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus were summoned to the White House by Trump to discuss an expiring spy powers program in April, many looked to Jordan to represent their opposition.
Jordan, the only founding member of the group still in Congress, had built his reputation on standing up to leadership, and he had voted against reauthorization of the program in 2024. But now as a chairman, he deferred to Johnson and the White House, according to a GOP lawmaker in the room.
“It’s kind of a different Jim Jordan. The savagery you saw before, I haven’t seen that as much here as of late,” the GOP lawmaker told CNN.
Since his failed leadership bid in 2023, Jordan has avoided the floor antics and consistent fights with leadership that Freedom Caucus members are regularly engaged in. Instead of leaning into the Republican-led investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, Jordan has barely talked about it and let House Oversight Chair James Comer be the GOP face of the work. When the panel held the high-profile depositions of Bill and Hillary Clinton in February, Jordan was instead campaigning with Republicans in the swing state of Pennsylvania.
That team player and deferential mentality has become a key part of Jordan’s appeal to some reading the tea leaves about his future. He has bought a lot of goodwill, particularly from moderates who were encouraged to see that he did not walk away after they rejected him three years ago. Instead, he took them to dinners, cut them campaign checks, and drove turnout at rallies in their districts to try to bring out base voters.
“He’s taken time to build these relationships and get to know these people,” a senior GOP operative told CNN. “Helping the team out also has the added benefit of, you know, positioning.”
The dynamics in the House Republican conference are also different from the last time Jordan mounted a bid. A number of lawmakers who voted against him are no longer serving in Congress. His trying to serve as minority leader with Trump as president, too, is a very different scenario than in 2023, when former Democratic President Joe Biden was in the White House and the speaker had to operate in a split government.
If Democrats do reclaim the majority, Jordan’s background as a Trump-aligned attack dog and aggressive questioner of witnesses could make him a critical GOP figure, as Democrats target Trump and his administration with a deluge of investigations. Republican leadership heavily relied on Jordan to shape the party’s messaging strategy during the two impeachments of Trump, even temporarily assigning him to the House Intelligence Committee in 2019 so he could be the public face defending the president.
“If you could incubate a minority leader with Trump as president and Jamie Raskin as Judiciary Chair, I don’t know how the person that comes out isn’t Jim Jordan,” a Republican close to leadership told CNN.
When Jordan was campaigning with GOP Rep. Jen Kiggans in her battleground district in Virginia in September, he provided a window into how he would play defense for Trump against Democrats. (Kiggans voted against Jordan for speaker back in 2023 and said at the time that “threats and intimidation tactics” would not work on her).
“It’s unbelievable what he’s been through,” Jordan said about Trump on September 26, detailing the two impeachments and various criminal investigations against him.
Recounting his phone call with Trump the day the FBI searched his home in Mar-a-Lago, Jordan told voters, “When he answers, he doesn’t even say hello. He just goes, ‘Jim this is the best thing that’s ever happened to our party.’ He goes, ‘my numbers are going to go up.’”
The packed room laughed.
But not everyone is buying Jordan’s efforts to present himself as less of a firebrand.
“I don’t think that has translated to any actual policy compromises,” one GOP source told CNN. “I think Jordan has moderated publicly and at the member level, but the staff is the same. The policy is the same.”
Most Republicans argue that Johnson is their leader. But even some of Johnson’s supporters say Jordan brings some important qualities to the table.
“Jim Jordan brings a lot of experience, a lot of wisdom, if you will, to Congress and to the conservative side of the aisle that we need people like Jim Jordan to be in continuing leadership roles at whatever level that might be decided by the conference after the election,” GOP Rep. Jack Bergman told CNN. “I tell you what, I don’t rule out anything because the point is, if you’re asking me who I’m supporting right now, I’m supporting Mike Johnson.”
Back in February, Jordan was campaigning with GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania instead of questioning Clinton in Chappaqua, New York, as part of the Epstein investigation.
Mackenzie, a freshman in Congress who was not yet elected when Jordan launched his speakership bid back in 2023, said he has gotten to know a different side of the Ohio Republican. The two men have bonded over family (Mackenzie’s young children and Jordan’s grandchildren are around the same age). And Jordan helped Mackenzie usher legislation through the House Judiciary Committee to expand the E-Verify program, a federal system used by employers to confirm a new hire is legally authorized to work in the US.
“I think he is very well respected in our conference. And one of the things that I’ve seen and heard not just with him but other members that go through a leadership race and don’t get the outcome they are looking for, those that continue to stay in the fight and be great members of the conference actually engender and earn even more respect and support. And I think that’s what he’s done in this case,” Mackenzie told CNN in March, reflecting on his campaign visit with Jordan.
Yet, planning for a reality where Republicans won’t be in the minority is a bridge most are still unwilling to cross.
“We won’t be,” GOP Rep. August Pfluger told CNN when asked who he would support if Republicans are in the minority.