The Wall Street Journal editorial board has endorsed Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan to replace Rep. Darrell Issa as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
“In a crowded field, Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) is the candidate best equipped to conduct thorough and credible investigations of federal waste, fraud, and abuse,” the newspaper’s board wrote in its endorsement.
The Daily Caller reported that Jordan is running to replace outgoing chairman Issa, squaring off against top candidates Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Ohio Rep. Mike Turner. Though he does not seek much media attention in Washington, Jordan has built respect among his colleagues for his tough and judicious work as chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs. Jordan earned particular peer acclaim for his work on the IRS targeting scandal, which is ongoing.
Jordan must persuade the voting members of the Republican Steering Committee to elect him for the chairmanship over Chaffetz and Turner. House Speaker John Boehner has five votes on the committee, which centralizes most of the voting power to Republican House leadership.
After revelations that the IRS did not even look for Lois Lerner’s lost emails, and with Treasury Department counsel Hannah Stott-Bumsted still holding out from appearing before Congress to discuss her knowledge of the lost emails, the IRS scandal remains decidedly unresolved. The next chairman of the Oversight Committee will be responsible for carrying on the investigation.
