Kevin McCarthy elected GOP leader in the House for next Congress

House Republicans elected Rep. Kevin McCarthy the chamber's new minority leader on Wednesday, putting him in charge of an unruly caucus that faces a loss of power in January for the first time in eight years.

The California Republican and current majority leader put down a leadership bid from Rep. Jim Jordan, the former chairman of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus. McCarthy defeated Jordan by a vote of 159 to 43.

In January, McCarthy will replace House Speaker Paul Ryan, who will retire at the end of his current term, as leader of the House GOP caucus. Republicans elected current Majority Whip Steve Scalise as minority whip, which will make him the No. 2 member of the GOP caucus next year.

McCarthy will have to balance the demands of governing in the minority and leading a party that has increasingly cast itself in the mold of President Donald Trump. The GOP representative, who has himself drifted more toward Trump since the president took office, will also try to figure out how to vault a party that suburban voters wary of the president's party rejected at the ballot box last week.

Democrats are projected to win 226 seats in the next Congress, while Republicans are set to win 199, according to current NBC News projections. Ten contests are still undecided.
Source: CNBC
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