Jim Jordan says Ohio finishes counting votes within two hours of polls closing, and he wants that standard applied nationally.
Congress could authorize President Trump's $5,000 payment this week, his colleague Tom Massie has argued. Jordan, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, won't commit to it without seeing the plan first.
"What I do know is what we did in the big, beautiful bill, largest tax cut in American history, letting families letting Americans keep their money to spend on the things that they want to spend it on."
Jordan chairs the Judiciary Committee, the panel now investigating noncitizens on state voter rolls, and has spent 19 years in Congress working with six attorneys general.
I listened to the full interview so you can skip it.
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👤 Guest: Jim Jordan, Republican Congressman representing Ohio's 4th District and Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee
🎙️ Host: Kailey Leinz, Bloomberg Washington Correspondent
📰 Published: 10 September 2026 on YouTube (Bloomberg Talks)
🔴 YouTube | 🟣 Apple Podcasts | ⏱️ 12 min
Key Takeaways
Jordan wants to see Trump's $5,000 proposal in writing before backing it, even though Republicans hold the majority already
He points instead to the tax cuts already passed in "the big, beautiful bill"
He argues tax cuts don't cause deficits — spending does
He cites a Wall Street Journal headline warning this Senate class will be the first forced to confront a Social Security shortfall
Attorney General Todd Blanch is "the best Attorney General I've ever worked with," he says, after 19 years in Congress
His complaint about predecessor Merrick Garland: memos treating school-board parents and "pro-life Catholics" as extremists
Ohio counts votes within two hours of polls closing, and Jordan wants that standard applied everywhere
He says a New Jersey investigation found nearly 7,000 noncitizens on the state's voter rolls
He is campaigning across several states for Republican candidates rather than discussing his own next move
He names J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio, Glenn Youngkin and Ted Cruz as potential 2028 contenders
1. Wait-and-See on $5,000
Leinz asked why Republicans, who already control Congress, haven't simply moved on colleague Tom Massie's suggestion to fast-track $5,000 checks before the midterms.
"Well, look, I want to see the proposal," Jordan said, adding: "I'm always in favor of letting hardworking Americans, American families keep more of their money."
Pressed on whether the president consulted Republicans before announcing the plan onstage, Jordan confirmed he had not been briefed: "Well, we heard it last night in his speech." He called it "a great speech" with "a lot of energy" but said he doesn't "know all the details of this plan."
He pointed instead to what Republicans have already delivered: "What I do know is what we did in the big, beautiful bill, largest tax cut in American history, letting families letting Americans keep their money to spend on the things that they want to spend it on."
2. Tax Cuts Aren't the Deficit
Leinz noted the same tax bill Jordan credits was projected by the Congressional Budget Office to add $4 trillion to the deficit over a decade, and asked how a $5,000 dividend on top of it could be fiscally responsible.
"No, it's the spending side of the equation that's creating the deficits and piling up the huge debt," Jordan said, rejecting the idea that tax cuts themselves add to the shortfall.
He raised Social Security directly: "I remember the headline in the Journal back in January, it said this United States Senate class will be the first Senate class which will have to deal with the Social Security question," citing a projected shortfall.
His fix is narrower than the deficit itself: "some of the fraud that's going on." He credited the administration's work "particularly in the fraud area."
3. Backing Blanch, Not Garland
As Judiciary Committee chairman, Jordan was asked whether it was appropriate for Attorney General Todd Blanch to speak at a political convention.
"Todd Blanch is doing good work. I've been in Congress 19 years. He's the best Attorney General I've ever worked with," Jordan said.
He credited a specific hire: "Colin McDonald, the guy that they put as the point person for dealing with fraud and going after people, the guy who got the indictments on these folks up in Minnesota who were ripping off taxpayers."
Asked whether he'd have objected to Merrick Garland taking the same stage, Jordan cited two memos instead of answering directly: "My problem with Merrick Garland... was the fact that he did the memorandum saying if you're showing up at a school board meeting as a parent, somehow you're a bad person and we need to spy on you." He added a second: "My problem with Merrick Garland was when the FBI, under his leadership, did the memorandum saying if you're a pro-life Catholic, you're an extremist for goodness sake."
4. Ohio Counts Fast, Wants More
Leinz turned to the DOJ's push at the Supreme Court over mail-in ballot rules, and asked what weeks-long vote counts in some states do to public confidence.
"I know in Ohio... We get results within an hour and a half, two hours. It's done, finished," Jordan said, contrasting it with states where "it takes forever to figure out who won" a race.
On the administration's photo-ID push: "President Trump is just trying to make sure only citizens are voting. You got to have a photo ID. Only people who are supposed to be on the voting voter registration list are actually there."
Asked for data behind the fraud claims, Jordan pointed to an active Judiciary Committee investigation led by Representative Jeff Van Drew: "We know in New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill come out and told us 6,000 people, almost 7,000 people were on their voter registration rolls who weren't citizens. And some of them actually voted in an election."
5. The Midterm Push, Then 2028
Jordan declined repeatedly to discuss his own leadership ambitions, framing everything around the 54 days left before the election.
He described a packed campaign schedule: a new candidate in an open Texas seat that day, Keith Self the day before, Monica De La Cruz the next day, then Oklahoma to help a candidate in Tulsa on Saturday.
On the threat he says a Democratic-Socialist-controlled party poses: "Remember what Mamdani said nine months and ten days ago. He said, I was elected as a Democrat Socialist. I will govern as a Democrat Socialist."
Asked whether Vice President Vance would be the 2028 nominee, Jordan praised him but spread credit widely: "I think there's Secretary Rubio. I think there's Governor Youngkin. I think there's Senator Cruz." He singled out a convention speech: "I thought Senator McCormick last night did an amazing job."
Bonus Insights
Jordan campaigned that day for a new Republican House candidate in one of Texas's open seats, a name the caption audio could not reliably confirm and which is left out here as a result.
Asked twice whether he would seek a leadership post, Jordan deflected both times to the Judiciary Committee's own succession: "We've got a lot of good candidates... that's up to the steering committee and the conference."
Jordan's bottom line is that Republicans keep the House and Senate by making the election about what he calls the Democratic Party's leftward drift, not by matching Trump's $5,000 offer with specifics of their own.
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