Trump ally to lead House GOP
WASHINGTON — Republican Kevin McCarthy easily won an internal party election Wednesday to take over the shrunken House GOP caucus, a familiar role for the underestimated scrapper whose top priority will be to protect President Donald Trump’s agenda and try to build the party back to retake the majority.
The speaker’s gavel long gone, the race for minority leader was McCarthy’s to lose, but the Californian’s rise was never guaranteed. He’s close to Trump, but the president is also friendly with Rep. Jim Jordan, the conservative Freedom Caucus member, and both faced testy colleagues ready to assign blame after the midterm election losses.
In the end, McCarthy pushed past Jordan, 159-43, according to officials familiar with the closed-door voting.
House Democrats put off until after Thanksgiving the biggest contest, Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s bid to return as her party’s nominee for speaker.
On the other side of the Capitol, senators chose Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for another term leading Republicans and Chuck Schumer for Democrats in closeddoor party elections that lacked the drama of the House contest.
Both McConnell and Schumer were chosen as leader by acclamation, according to those familiar with the private caucus meetings. McConnell, the Kentucky Republican, faced no opponent. Democrats returned Schumer’s entire leadership team, despite the failure to capture the majority in the midterms.