House Republicans Picked Jim Jordan to Lead Them After Their Midterm Losses, and Trump Stayed Out of It
by Sari Moon · Thought CatalogBy Sari Moon
Updated 35 minutes ago, November 12, 2026
House Republicans chose Ohio conservative Jim Jordan to lead them in the next Congress after a midterm landslide left them in the minority with a smaller conference. They made the pick on Tuesday.
The man they just elevated spent years fighting the people who used to run the place. A co-founder of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, Jordan made his reputation by challenging his own party’s leaders.
He wasted no time setting the tone. “When Democrats offer more government, we’ll offer more freedom,” Jordan told reporters shortly after his win, at a press conference where the new leaders declined to take questions. “And we will bring that fight in committee, on the floor and on the stump every single day.”
Rep. Steve Scalise entered the race as the outgoing majority leader with long experience in leadership. After the election results, that experience hurt him; some Republicans said the scale of the losses was what gave Jordan the edge.
“He represents change,” said Rep. Darin LaHood of Illinois, crediting Jordan with a detailed plan for getting the party out of the minority. “If the election would have been closer last week, I think the results could have been different today.”
It’s a sharp turn for a lawmaker who once resisted the Freedom Caucus’s push to challenge then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, then fell short of the votes in the chaotic 2023 Speaker fight after McCarthy was ousted. Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has used that post to launch investigations into Democrats and Trump’s political opponents.
Not everyone in the conference got a shakeup. Rep. Tom Emmer held onto the whip’s job against a challenge from Rep. August Pfluger, and Rep. Lisa McClain kept the conference chair after beating back challenges from Reps. Greg Steube and Erin Houchin.
For some Republicans, Jordan’s signal that he would break with President Trump when they disagree was precisely the reason to support him. Many in the party say their candidates suffered because of Trump’s policies, including the Iran war, global tariffs and a deportation surge.
Trump has used his influence in previous leadership contests. This time, unusually, he stayed out.
Democrats are promising investigations into Trump’s family, allies and administration, and Jordan will have to defend him. He also has a message to build for 2028 and a party to hold together while its members keep sniping over who cost them the majority.
Rep. Tom Cole put it plainly: “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.”
Democrats saw the pick as proof the GOP missed the message. “Republicans learned absolutely nothing from what happened a week ago, and are responding by elevating their most extreme voices to positions of power,” Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia wrote on social media.
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