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Jim Jordan, House Republicans and the urgent need to bridge divides

Jim Jordan, House Republicans and the urgent need to bridge divides
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Richard Davies is a solutions journalist and podcast consultant. He co-hosts two bi-weekly podcasts: "Let's Find Common Ground" for commongroundcommittee.org, and "How Do We Fix It?"

Two weeks ago The House of Representatives voted to fire Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House. Republicans remain deadlocked about who should replace him. The work of Congress is paralyzed at an especially dangerous time for America at home and abroad.


After the murderous terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas, the threat of a much wider conflict in the Middle East, the continuing war in Ukraine, and the very real prospect of a mid-November Federal shutdown at home, a major branch of the U.S. Government is effectively closed for business. Not a single House vote was held last week.

While the causes of the deep dysfunction among the House majority are complex, a most important issue at stake is quite simple. Do GOP members accept the need for bridge building and common ground with moderate Democrats? Congressman Jim Jordan and his hard right followers in the Freedom Caucus have built their careers on rejecting attempts at legislative compromise, but many elected Republicans know that bridging is a vital part of governing. Will they decide to air their doubts in public?

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During a secret ballot vote of House Republicans on Friday, Jordan won the speakership nomination. But he lacks the votes he needs on the floor— by a large margin. When the GOP conference held another vote to count how many members would support Jordan in a floor vote, only 152 Republicans said they would. Fifty-five said no.

All House Democrats would vote against Jordan as Speaker.

“It remains astonishing that the Republicans would consider making Jordan speaker,” wrote liberal historian Heather Cox Richardson in her daily newsletter Friday. “The hallmarks of that position are an ability to negotiate and to shepherd legislation through Congress… Jordan has none of those qualities; he is a flamethrower who, in 16 years in the House, has not managed to get a single bill through the House, let alone into law.”

“These guys want to be in the minority,” was how moderate Republican Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon described hardliners in his own party. “I think they would prefer that because they could just vote no and yell and scream all the time.”

Voters remain deeply skeptical of Congress. When asked by a CNN poll last week, “How well do you feel the government in Washington represents the views of people like yourself?” 81% of adult respondents answered, “not well or not at all well.” The same survey provides little comfort for Democrats. About six-in-ten adults said they were “angry at both parties” for failing to deal with the country’s problems.

One question is how much this matters to extreme partisans on both sides? The present political crisis can be blamed on those Republicans who disdain the government. But performative politicians of the left and right— many with large social media followings— value clicks over compromise and attention over legislative results. They seek power and campaign funds by attacking anyone who challenges their narrow, rigid view of the world.

Whatever the result of this week’s House maneuvers the question remains: How many elected representatives from both parties will seek common ground with the other side and attempt to bridge divides?

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The American Schism in 2025: The New Cultural Revolution

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The American Schism in 2025: The New Cultural Revolution

A common point of bewilderment today among many of Trump’s “establishment” critics is the all too tepid response to Trump’s increasingly brazen shattering of democratic norms. True, he started this during his first term, but in his second, Trump seems to relish the weaponization of his presidency to go after his enemies and to brandish his corrupt dealings, all under the Trump banner (e.g. cyber currency, Mideast business dealings, the Boeing 747 gift from Qatar). Not only does Trump conduct himself with impunity but Fox News and other mainstream media outlets barely cover them at all. (And when left-leaning media do, the interest seems to wane quickly.)

Here may be the source of the puzzlement: the left intelligentsia continues to view and characterize MAGA as a political movement, without grasping its transcendence into a new dominant cultural order. MAGA rose as a counter-establishment partisan drive during Trump’s 2016 campaign and subsequent first administration; however, by the 2024 election, it became evident that MAGA was but the eye of a full-fledged cultural shift, in some ways akin to Mao’s Cultural Revolution.

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The U.S. Is Rushing To Make AI Deals With Gulf Countries, But Who Will Help Keep Children Safe?

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As the United States deepens its investments in artificial intelligence (AI) partnerships abroad, it is moving fast — signing deals, building labs, and exporting tools. Recently, President Donald Trump announced sweeping AI collaborations with Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These agreements, worth billions, are being hailed as historic moments for digital diplomacy and technological leadership.

But amid the headlines and handshakes, I keep asking the same question: where is child protection in all of this?

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Illinois Residents Grapple With Urban Flooding

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Following months of research, canvassing, and listening to community needs, journalists, including Britton Struthers-Lugo, produced solutions-based stories about the challenges faced by the Berwyn, Illinois, community.

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Proposed Proof-of-Citizenship Bill Could Impact All Registered Voters in Texas

Opponents of a proof-of-citizenship bill before Texas lawmakers say many women in rural areas, who could get targeted by the bill, do not have a birth certificate matching their current last name.

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Proposed Proof-of-Citizenship Bill Could Impact All Registered Voters in Texas

Voting rights advocates in Texas are speaking out against a proof-of-citizenship bill before lawmakers.

Senate Bill 16 would require new registrants and some existing registered voters to prove they are U.S. citizens.

Amber Mills, issue advocacy director for the Move Texas Civic Fund, said the requirement would be in addition to what the state already does to check someone's eligibility.

"When you're completing a voter form, you do also have to submit either your driver's license number or your Social Security number," Mills pointed out. "That's really important because that is how the state verifies who you are, and that's a key indicator that they use to protect their databases on the back end."

Even if you were born in the U.S., the bill could require you to show proof of citizenship with a passport or birth certificate matching your current name. According to the Secure Democracy Foundation, more than 38% percent of rural and small-town Texans do not have a passport.

Anyone who cannot prove citizenship would be placed on a separate voter roll and could only cast ballots in the U.S. House and Senate races.

Emily French, policy director for the advocacy group Common Cause Texas, said the additional barriers could prevent many residents from casting their votes in local, state and presidential races.

"All the DPS systems, all the immigration systems which say that they are citizens, but there can still be mistakes that mark them as noncitizens and could throw them off the voter rolls until they come in with these documents that they don't have," French explained.

The bill directs the Texas Secretary of State's Office to check all registered voters' status by the end of the year and send the names of registered voters who have not proven their citizenship before September 2025 to county elections offices.

Mills noted if you are flagged, there is no online system to comply with the request and all paperwork must be submitted in person.

"We are not disputing the goal of having only eligible citizens on the voter rolls, but we know that Texas already has strong systems in place," Mills emphasized. "It's ultimately the state's responsibility, the county's responsibility to do these voter roll checks, but what SB 16 would do is not change any of that, not improve any of that. It would just add an additional burden."

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