Follow us on social

google cta
Is Jim Jordan offering Ukraine aid vote in exchange for support?

Is Jim Jordan offering Ukraine aid vote in exchange for support?

Report cites Republicans who left meeting with the House Speaker hopeful.

Reporting | QiOSK
google cta
google cta

Jim Jordan’s bid to become the next Speaker of the House gained momentum today, with a number of prominent Republican members reversing earlier statements and pledging to support his bid.

According to a new report from Axios, that change of heart may have been motivated in part by assurances from the Ohio Congressman that he would allow a floor vote on linking Ukraine funding with Israel funding if he wins the gavel.

Axios’ reporting cites four House Republicans that left meetings with the Speaker nominee “under the impression” that Jordan would allow such a vote.

Many of the members who came out in support of Jordan’s bid this morning cited productive conversations with the Congressman, without providing any specifics.

Some of the members who surprisingly endorsed Jordan’s bid this morning are defense hawks like Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who were reportedly concerned about Jordan’s reluctance to continue funding Kyiv’s war effort and his desire to enact that 1% across-the-board spending cut that could have included the Pentagon.

"He's not going to block a vote,’ said one of the House Republicans who spoke with Jordan,” according to Axios.

A spokesman for Jordan’s office told Axios that the Congressman made no promises, and that “Jordan's conversations were about working to find the right approach, rather than specific promises.”

As RS previously reported, a significant number of Republicans on Capitol Hill — including a number of supporters of further aid for Ukraine — had balked at the Biden administration’s planned proposal to combine aid for Kyiv, Tel Aviv, and more into a single package.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who last month emphasized his support for supporting Ukraine, likened the move to combine that effort with aid to Israel to “blackmail.”

Others were more blunt. “They shouldn’t be tied together. I will not vote to fund Ukraine. Absolutely not,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) last week. “Israel is totally separate.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who has been a staunch supporter of Jordan’s candidacy, said on CNN last week “however you feel about Israel and Ukraine, I think a responsible and reasonable government ought to address those questions separately."

During the interview, he implied that Jordan shared that sentiment. Gaetz earlier led an effort to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the Speakership, in part because the former Speaker had made a “secret side deal” with Biden to keep funding Ukraine.

The floor vote for Speaker is expected to be held tomorrow, and it is not yet confirmed whether Jordan has enough votes to cross the 217-vote threshold, despite the string of eleventh-hour endorsements.



Congressman Jim Jordan (R)

Congressman Jim Jordan (R)

Photo: Rep. Jim Jordan (Shutterstock/Lev Radin)

google cta
Reporting | QiOSK
Israel’s push for Somaliland base raises fears of wider war
Top image credit: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi participate in a joint press conference during Saar's visit to Somaliland on January 6, 2026. (Screengrab via X)

Israel’s push for Somaliland base raises fears of wider war

QiOSK

Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Israel is in talks with Somaliland officials to form a strategic security partnership, which might include granting Israel access to a military base or other security installation along the Somaliland coast from which it can launch attacks against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

With war raging in the Middle East, the Horn of Africa is a particularly important geoeconomic and geopolitical puzzle piece. Its location near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, which connects ships traveling through the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, makes it a strategic location from the perspective of global shipping, 10% to 12% of which travels through the strait annually.

keep readingShow less
Most Iranian Americans want diplomacy with Iran: poll
Iranian-Americans in the age of Trump, the Travel Ban, and the Threat of War

Most Iranian Americans want diplomacy with Iran: poll

QiOSK

Recent data released by the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) suggests that a strong majority of Iranian Americans support diplomacy to resolve tensions between the U.S. and Iran — a finding at odds with the dominant conversation online suggesting that most Iranian Americans are in favor of the Iran war.

The data was collected through a survey of 505 Iranian Americans conducted by Zogby Analytics between Feb. 27 and March 5. Among the most notable results were that a clear majority of Iranian Americans — 61.6% — support diplomacy to move toward de-escalation and a negotiated path forward.

keep readingShow less
Oil disruption from Iran war won’t end any time soon
REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani/File Photo

People walk near farmland by the Zubair oil field as gas flares rise in the distance, in Zubair Mishrif, Basra, Iraq, amid regional tensions following the recent disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, March 9, 2026.

Oil disruption from Iran war won’t end any time soon

QiOSK

The US-Israel-Iran war has led to extraordinary volatility in global energy markets this week, and there is little reason to think that it will abate any time soon.

Benchmark Brent crude, which traded below $60 per barrel early this year, jumped to $80 last Thursday. It then bounced to $120 in thin weekend markets and, as of this writing, has settled in around $92. In other words, the range of the recent oil price has been 50% of where it was a mere five days ago.

keep readingShow less
google cta
Want more of our stories on Google?
Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.