Techniques of governance in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan do not follow a single or unifying logic. Despite a more than decade-long shift towards a neoliberal orientation, market-disciplinary policies coincide with important exceptions. This article employs a modified variegated neoliberalization approach to explore one such exception. Specifically, it analyzes the recent debate over the country’s bread subsidy to elucidate key elements of Jordan’s socio-economic transformation. The persistence of this long-standing welfare program is linked to the uneven pathways of Jordanian neoliberalization and two potent political rationalities imbricated in this process.