House Republicans, soon to be relegated to the minority, picked Rep. Kevin McCarthy to stay on as their party leader in the 116th Congress by a vote of 159-43 in a closed-door GOP vote.
McCarthy, R-Calif., will replace retiring Speaker Paul Ryan as the top House Republican, but he won’t inherit the gavel.
As minority leader, he’ll oversee a much smaller GOP conference which will have very little power beginning in January.
McCarthy handily defeated top House conservative Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who is the founder of the House Freedom Caucus.
Jordan had argued Republicans need a change in the top leadership and a leader who will prioritize fiscal restraint, border security, and other conservative priorities.
[Jim Jordan: GOP must fight ‘every single minute’ against wave of Democratic investigations]
But Jordan lacked the popularity, fundraising strength, and personal relationships forged over the years by McCarthy, who has been a member of the GOP leadership team for nearly a decade.
McCarthy is familiar with governing in the minority, having served as chief deputy whip during the Democrats’ last Congress in the majority from 2009 until 2011.
McCarthy nearly became speaker, launching a bid for the post after Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced his retirement in 2015. But McCarthy withdrew from the race when it appeared a conservative faction would move to block him, and while rumors were flying that he had been romantically involved with a fellow GOP lawmaker, Rene Ellmers, R-N.C., an accusation that was never proven and that he staunchly denied.
McCarthy also faced criticism over an interview in which he appeared to signal the GOP committee probe into the Sept. 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans, was intended to hurt presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers. The interview caused many House GOP lawmakers to sour on McCarthy, who they feared would not be a strong enough messenger for the party.
McCarthy has since redeemed himself in dozens of television and radio interviews promoting the GOP agenda and accomplishments, gaffe free.
After McCarthy dropped out in 2015, Boehner convinced Ryan, R-Wis., to run for the position, and lawmakers embraced his strong messaging skills and leadership.
Now Ryan has decided to leave Congress, and this time, McCarthy needed only a majority of the conference to become minority leader, a much easier hurdle augmented by three additional years of experience that have earned him respect from the conference.
