House Republicans Elect Jim Jordan as Minority Leader for Next Congress
Jim Jordan beat Steve Scalise 106-73 in a secret ballot on Tuesday, a week after Democrats won control of both chambers in the midterms. He takes over as the top House Republican when the new Congress is seated in January.
House Republicans elected Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio as their next leader on Tuesday, choosing the Judiciary Committee chairman to lead the party in the minority after Democrats won control of both chambers in last week’s midterm elections.
Jordan beat House Majority Leader Steve Scalise 106-73 in a secret ballot held behind closed doors. Speaker Mike Johnson had declined to run for the minority leader post in the next Congress, leaving the contest between Jordan and Scalise.
“Over the next two years House Republicans will fight for American families,” Jordan told reporters after the vote, without taking questions. “When Democrats offer more government, we’ll offer more freedom. We will bring that fight in committee, on the floor and on the stump every single day.”
A combative choice after a midterm defeat
Jordan, a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, has been a vocal ally of President Donald Trump during both terms, first from the minority during investigations on the House Oversight Committee and now as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. His win gives Republicans a combative leader to face an incoming Democratic majority that plans a long list of investigations into the Trump administration.
Republicans also kept Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota as their whip, after he beat a challenge from Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, and Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan will remain head of the Republican Conference. McClain said after the vote that the mission is to return to the majority: “We must and we will go on offense on day one.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York who is in line to become speaker next year, said the 258 confirmed Democrats in the 435-member chamber will be the largest majority for either party this century.
Jordan takes over a party that can organize opposition and bargain with Democrats but will no longer control the House floor or chair its committees. The new Congress convenes Jan. 3, 2027.
Reporting based on coverage by USA Today and Reuters.
