House Republicans pick Trump ally Jim Jordan over Scalise to lead party after midterm losses
WASHINGTON, DC: As Congress prepares to welcome new Representatives and Senators, the Republican Party has already begun the process of electing its leaders in the Senate and the House.
While GOP Senators are requesting a delay in the Senate GOP leadership elections, House Republicans have elected Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the House Judiciary Committee Chairman, to lead them for the final two years of President Trump’s tenure.
GOP representatives elect their House leader
Representative Jim Jordan defeated Steve Scalise (R-LA) on Tuesday, November 10, to become the next House Republican leader.
Jordan, a hard-line conservative and Trump ally who has served in Congress for nearly two decades, secured the role in a secret ballot vote of 106-73.
Jordan announced his bid for the top Republican position in the House after Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not seek the role in the next Congress following the Democrats’ sweeping midterm victories, which gave them control of both chambers of Congress.
“In these next two years, our job cannot be merely to spotlight how radical this new Democrat party is—offense, not defense, wins elections,” Jordan said in a letter to colleagues a day after Democrats scored a series of sweeping victories in the midterms.
“Republican policies prioritize making Americans' neighborhoods safer, keeping more money in their pockets, and protecting enduring American values and freedoms. To restore our majority, we must restore voters' faith in our ability to deliver on these principles.”
Scalise announced his bid to contest the House Republican leadership position on the same day as Jordan.
Members of both parties in the House, including returning and newly elected lawmakers, meet privately to choose their leaders through secret ballot votes.
Notably, both Scalise and Jordan previously ran for Speaker in 2023 after Kevin McCarthy became the first person to be ousted from the position through a House vote.
GOP senators demand delay in Senate minority leader election to discuss midterm losses
A letter was signed by several GOP senators calling for the Senate Republican leadership elections to be postponed so they could discuss the party’s midterm losses first.
The letter was spearheaded by Senate Budget Committee Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and signed by several other senators, including Senate conservatives Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Budd (R-NC), and John Kennedy (R-La.).
The senators want the party to first have a “robust discussion” of what went wrong in this year’s election and evaluate leadership strategies moving forward. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) also separately voiced support for delaying the election.
