WASHINGTON, DC – A week after losing their majority in the US midterm elections, Republicans in the US House of Representatives have elected Representative Jim Jordan as their new minority leader.
In a secret ballot held Tuesday, the Ohio congressman, who was first elected to the U.S. Congress in 2007, won the support of his fellow party members to replace Mike Johnson as the top Republican in Congress.
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The high-stakes decision comes as Republicans try to chart a path forward following heavy losses in the midterm elections in which Democrats flipped at least 40 seats nationwide.
Jordan, who was competing for the role with current House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, will take on many responsibilities as Republicans oppose at least two years of Democratic-led investigations into President Donald Trump’s administration and prepare to select a 2028 presidential nominee.
In a letter to Republican lawmakers before Tuesday’s vote, Jordan described himself as an “seasoned” leader and ready to take on these challenges.
“I know what it takes to lead a conference in the minority, maintain unity, and coordinate and coordinate responses to Democratic tactics,” he wrote. “We need a leadership team that is proactive, proactive, proactive and direct.”
Jordan is an ally of President Trump and is influential in the Republican caucus. He co-founded the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which frustrated many former and current Republican leaders and blocked party-backed legislation.
The group’s president, Republican Rep. Andy Harris, praised Jordan after the vote, calling him a “fierce fighter, unifier, principled conservative, and relentless advocate for the American people.”
“Jim is uniquely suited to the task of fighting back against the extreme and insane policies of the Democratic Party,” Harris said in a statement.
As the current chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Jordan has used his authority to investigate what he says is the government’s weaponization against Mr. Trump. He has led the committee’s investigation into former U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith and Fani Willis, Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney, who unsuccessfully prosecuted the president.
Jordan’s supporters on the panel were quick to praise his choice.
“Jim is a fighter and a convicted conservative,” Republican Rep. Brandon Gill wrote on social media. “He is the original Congressional brawler and exactly what our Congress needs to restore us to the majority.”
While chairing the Judiciary Committee, Jordan has also targeted criticism of Israel and alleged anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, launching high-profile investigations into college campuses and political funding for rhetoric he claims undermines the Israeli government.
He is a staunch defender of the US-Israel war in Iran as well as US military aid to the country’s “best friend” Israel.
Jordan, a former assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University, faced allegations that he knew about the sexual abuse of student-athletes by the team’s attending physician, Dr. Richard Strauss, from 1978 to 1998. Mr. Jordan has denied the allegations.
He previously ran for Speaker of the House in the short term after Kevin McCarthy is ousted from the position in 2023.
Since then, Jordan has taken a less adversarial approach, aligning himself with Johnson and other members of the current House Republican leadership.
Before Jordan’s victory was confirmed, McCarthy appeared on a podcast after last week’s interim results to offer advice to future leaders of the U.S. House Republican Conference.
“You can’t just play day in and day out,” he told former Glory, Sorrow, and Gavel aides. “You have to have a strategy, because that’s going to oust the Democratic Party.”
McCarthy added: “You better recognize what happened in this last election, because we have to tell the American people that I heard you, and it’s going to take time to earn that trust again.”
