House Republicans on Tuesday tapped Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to lead their diminished conference in the next Congress, betting that a conservative spitfire — and onetime leadership nemesis — can restore the fight to a party battered by the midterms and scrambling for a path back to power.
In brief comments right out of the gate, Jordan set the tenor of the coming clash, vowing to fight the ascendant Democrats on the size and scope of federal power — an issue that’s taken on fresh significance with the arrival of a new crop of democratic socialist members.
“When Democrats offer more government, we’ll offer more freedom,” Jordan told reporters in the Capitol shortly after his victory at a press conference where new leaders declined to take questions. “And we will bring that fight in committee, on the floor and on the stump every single day.”
He has a steep climb ahead.
Jordan’s task is not only to bring together the warring factions of a restive party demoralized by their election rout and sniping over who’s to blame but also to craft a message that will resonate with alienated voters ahead of the 2028 elections — all while defending President Trump from the myriad investigations the Democrats are promising into the president’s family, allies and administration.
It was the size of the election losses, some Republicans said, that tipped the scales toward Jordan over Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the outgoing majority leader whose many years in the leadership ranks became a liability, rather than an asset, after the midterm landslide.
“He represents change,” said Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.). “He also has a very detailed plan on how we get out of the minority. He has excellent communication skills. He’s viewed as a fighter, which he is, and I think the conference was ready for a different direction.”
“If the election would have been closer last week,” he added, “I think the results could have been different today.”
For Jordan, the ascension represents an extraordinary arc for a right-wing renegade who built a brand in the Capitol for taking on party leaders, not joining their ranks.
The Ohio Republican is a co-founder of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, a bloc of iconoclastic conservatives who have routinely butted heads with GOP leadership over government spending and, at times, blocked Republican legislation in an effort to yank the party further to the right. He is also chair of the House Judiciary Committee, a role he’s used to launch investigations into Democrats and other Trump political opponents.
“Jim Jordan is a fighter. I think he doesn’t mind saying the hard things, but he’s level-headed, and he’s going to be able to work with a lot of different personalities to stay focused on the mission and get the job done,” Rep. Sheri Biggs (R-S.C.) said.
If Tuesday’s leadership elections were a referendum on the midterm results, however, they also didn’t supply the “clean slate” some GOP lawmakers were hoping for.
Rep. Tom Emmer (Minn.), the Republican whip, fended off a challenge from Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) to keep his post. And Rep. Lisa McClain (Mich.), the GOP conference chair, will also remain in place after beating back challenges from Republican Reps. Greg Steube (Fla.) and Erin Houchin (Ind.).
“This Republican leadership team will expose the Democrats’ lies and show the American people their true colors as the radical communists that they are,” Emmer said after his win.
Trump stayed out of the leadership races — an unusual move for a president who has exerted his influence in past contests. Many Republicans are blaming Trump’s policies — particularly the Iran war, global tariffs and a deportation surge — for dragging down GOP candidates in the midterms. Some even suggested they chose Jordan because he expressed a willingness to break from the president on certain issues.
Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) said he asked Jordan what the Republican conference was going to do “now that we have to deal with a president who we’re not sure … how he’s going to go forward.”
“I thought he gave a very good answer, which was instead of waiting to see what the president’s going to say, we lead. We lead with a message based on what we want to say, and that’s what I’ve always tried to do myself. I mean, each individual has to know their individual district as well as possible,” McCormick said.
“We’re independent thinkers, right? … I want to not worry about what the president says. I want to have my own opinion, and … what’s funny is the president usually comes around to what I believe anyway. And if he doesn’t, that’s OK because we’re not a cult. If everybody in the church agrees with everything the minister says, you’re in a cult. We are not a cult. It’s very high time to realize that. And it goes back to the Reagan rule, right? It’s OK if you disagree with me on a certain percentage. We can still be on the same team,” he added.
The leadership transition, from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to Jordan, could not offer a more stark contrast in styles and personas.
Johnson is a constitutional lawyer, prim and bespectacled, who often quotes Bible verses and borrowed church terminology in pledging to be a “servant leader.” Jordan is a former champion wrestler, still fit and muscular, who’s known for eschewing a blazer around the Capitol and jousting routinely with Democrats from his perch atop the Judiciary Committee.
The House Freedom Caucus repeatedly tried to tap Jordan to run against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), which he resisted. But after McCarthy was ousted, it spurred a contentious 2023 battle for the Speakership between Scalise and Jordan.
Scalise initially won the Republican nomination for Speaker then, defeating Jordan in a secret-ballot vote. But, he later withdrew from the race when it became clear he would not win enough support to secure the gavel. Jordan was later chosen as the nominee for Speaker, but he repeatedly fell short of the votes needed to clinch the post.
“It’s almost like this is the right time for him,” Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), a member of the House Republican Steering Committee and the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters after the vote.
“I think we need, you know, a combat guy, so to speak. But he’s as good at political combat as anybody I’ve ever seen. So I think he’ll do an excellent job for us.”
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) also said she sees Jordan as a unifier despite his staunch conservatism.
“Jim Jordan is somebody who’s a fighter, somebody who’s thoughtful when he speaks,” she said. “He’s eloquent. He doesn’t miss a beat. He’s out there talking about the issues, talking about what people are thinking. I think he’ll do a good job. Look, I’m one of the more centrist members. … He brings everybody together.”
“I think the reason I had supported him for Speaker two years ago, I thought he was the one who could bring everybody together because he had relationships with more moderate members, with the Freedom Caucus folks, and everybody in between,” she added. “So I think you know he handles himself in a way that he can get the job done.”
Congressional Democrats were quick to criticize the pick as another instance of the GOP conference committing itself to a far-right pick after an election that they view as a resounding rejection of Trump.
“Stephen Miller and Jim Jordan,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) wrote on social media, noting the promotion of Trump’s White House adviser to chief of staff.
“Republicans learned absolutely nothing from what happened a week ago, and are responding by elevating their most extreme voices to positions of power.”
But GOP members defended the choice.
“I think you look at our conference, we’re a significantly more conservative conference than what we were coming into this,” Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said, referencing the number of moderate members who lost their reelection bids.
“And I think if you look at that, you’re going to see us push our conservative values.”
Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, asserted voters still wanted Trump’s agenda and said he also saw Jordan as a figure who could fight any eventual impeachment effort that Democrats might bring against Trump.
“He’s a conservative. He’s also a smart strategist. He’s definitely a good communicator, and especially where we’re headed with the Dems, who seem obsessed with impeachment and, you know, shenanigans, he’s had to lead the defense on that before,” Cloud said.
“So I think we’ll be well prepared headed into the future.”
