USAupdated 13m ago2 min read
Archive photo · 15 October 2016Jim Jordan Elected House GOP Minority Leader, Defeating Steve Scalise 106-73
“Jordan’s victory signals that House Republicans wanted a clean break from the Johnson political apparatus”
“More recently, however, Jordan has shifted toward the establishment and toed the party line.”
Photo: Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Jim Jordan defeated Steve Scalise 106-73 to become House GOP minority leader. The election followed midterm losses and signals shift to new leadership in the House.
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Jordan Chosen Minority Leader
House Republicans elected Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio as minority leader for the next Congress in a closed-door vote on Tuesday, defeating House Majority Leader Steve Scalise by 106 votes to 73.
Jordan told reporters after his victory, "Over the next two years, House Republicans will fight for American families," and he added, "When Democrats offer more government, we’ll offer more freedom, and we will bring that fight in committee, on the floor and on the stump every single day."
Senate Republicans re-elected Sen. John Thune of South Dakota as party leader after a Tuesday vote, with the Senate leadership election proceeding without a challenger.
House Democrats held a 254-166 margin over Republicans going into the 120th Congress with 15 races still undecided, and the House GOP leadership change set up a new minority role for Jordan as the next Congress begins in January.
Senate Continuity, House Shift
Sen. John Thune remained party leader in the Senate after Tuesday, and Thune told reporters that Republicans intend to carry the lessons from the midterm cycle into the next Congress.
Thune said, "Obviously, the election result was not what we had hoped for," and he added, "we intend to do that," as he described taking the message from voters and focusing on what he called "the things that really matter to them."
House Republicans chose Jordan over Scalise in a contest held by secret ballot behind closed doors, and the vote was described as 106-73 by two Republican lawmakers in the room.
NPR reported that Jordan, 62, would succeed Mike Johnson, R-La., as the top House Republican when the new Congress begins in January, and NPR also described Jordan as a veteran of the House Oversight and House Judiciary committees.
Investigations and Next Congress
Jordan’s new role positioned him to lead House Republicans as Democrats plan a long list of investigations into President Trump and his administration, with NPR describing Jordan as a veteran of committees poised for oversight. NPR said Jordan is a co-founder of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, and it also quoted Jordan’s letter to colleagues saying, "I am battle-tested on the oversight front and I know the Democrats' playbook."
The Guardian reported that Jordan would be responsible for shaping the party’s strategy against "the waves of investigations Democrats have promised to open into Trump’s second administration," as Republicans navigated fallout from last week’s midterm losses. NBC News said Jordan pitched to GOP colleagues that his past role chairing the Oversight Committee would allow him to combat the spate of investigations newly empowered Democrats have promised to launch into Trump’s administration.