Republicans Elect Jim Jordan as House Minority Leader After Midterm Defeats

The update

House Republicans elected Ohio congressman Jim Jordan as their minority leader on Tuesday, one week after losing their majority in the midterm elections. Jordan, a close ally of President Donald Trump, won a secret ballot of Republican lawmakers and will succeed Mike Johnson when the new Congress begins next year. He defeated Steve Scalise, the current majority leader. Democrats will control both the House and Senate in the new Congress, after a midterm defeat in which Democrats flipped at least 40 seats nationwide.

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Why it matters

Jordan is a longtime leader of the party’s right wing, a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus and the current chair of the House Judiciary Committee. His election puts a strident Trump defender in charge of the Republican opposition for the last two years of Trump’s presidency, shaping the party’s response to Democratic investigations and legislation.

What to watch

Jordan must now unite a conference divided after its defeat and set a strategy for regaining the majority. Watch how he handles Democratic investigations into the Trump administration, whether Johnson serves out his term, and who Republicans choose to lead them into the 2028 presidential race.

Sources

• theguardian.com — confirms the election, the win over Scalise and Jordan’s new role
• aljazeera.com — confirms the secret ballot, succession from Johnson and the midterm losses

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