Lawmakers are returning to Washington on Tuesday for the first time in more than a month - and with control of the House flipping to the Democrats after the midterm elections, Republicans are readying themselves for an internal struggle Wednesday over who will assume leadership of a party that is in the minority for the first time since 2011.
With current House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., leaving office in January, the battle for GOP leadership in the House has pitted the establishment pick, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, against the far right outsider, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.
“The Republicans, much more than the Democrats, have always been willing to shake up their leadership after a loss,” Bruce Oppenheimer, a professor of public policy at Vanderbilt University, told Fox News. “There is definitely some dissatisfaction with the current leadership, but the question is whether Jordan is seen as too extreme a candidate by the majority of Republicans.
McCarthy, who last week sent a letter to colleagues announcing his official bid for the position, appears to be the frontrunner and has the backing of the retiring Ryan, who earlier this year called the California Republican the “right person” to lead the party in the House. McCarthy also enjoys a close relationship with both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and can call in favors from rank-and-file Republicans from the years he’s spent paying it forward by holding fundraisers and championing the pet bills of other GOP lawmakers.
One issue for McCarthy, however, is that he is a moderate – some would argue at times liberal – Republican in a party that has in recent years trended farther and farther toward the right. While he’s earned the admiration, if not the endorsement, of Rep. Mark Meadows, the North Carolina Republican who heads the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, for his work on tax reform and military funding, other members of the 40-person strong caucus are less enthusiastic about him.
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05.02.2025