Rep. Jim Jordan, who’s hoping to be the next House speaker after Paul Ryan steps down, said Thursday he would fight to fund President Trump’s border wall if given the chance to lead the House.
“The single-biggest promise we made the American people in 2016 was building the border security wall. We haven’t got it done,” he said on Fox News. “We haven’t done what we said.”
“So we’ve gotta focus on getting that done,” added Jordan, R-Ohio. “It all comes down to political will. Do we have the will to fight, have the showdown, have the national debate we have to have in Congress and around the country to win that issue?”
“If we keep the majority and I’m given the chance to lead, we’re going to focus on getting that done,” he said.
Congress approved $1.6 billion in March to fund border wall reconstruction, and Trump is hoping for another $1.6 billion later this year to start securing new sections of the border. But that falls short of the $5 billion House Republicans sought.
Building the wall was a top campaign promise of Trump’s, and conservatives have complained that Trump and the GOP-led Congress have failed to deliver the tens of billions of dollars expected to be needed for the project.
Jordan is currently seen as a long-shot candidate to lead House Republicans after Ryan, R-Wis., steps down. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is seen as the favorite to take over for Ryan.
Republicans are also at risk of losing control of the House in November, and if that happens, the next leader of the House Republicans would be the minority leader, not the House speaker.
