Senate Republicans re-elect Thune and House Republicans pick Jim Jordan as leader after their midterm defeat

House Republicans elected Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio as their new leader on Tuesday, handing the reins of the battered GOP conference to one of its most prominent conservative firebrands². Jordan beat Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who had served as the No. 2 House Republican since 2014, in a conference-wide secret ballot for minority leader². Scalise trailed Jordan by 33 votes².

In the Senate, Republicans defeated a push to delay their leadership elections and re-elected John Thune of South Dakota as leader³. Most Republicans voted against what was described as a period of purgatory after their electoral thrashing³.

Before the vote, eight Republican senators had called for the leadership elections to be delayed, with one promising to walk out rather than vote¹.

Why it matters to investors

The two votes set the Republican leadership that will face a Democratic majority. Jordan’s victory marks a major shake-up in House Republican leadership, elevating a founding member of the hardline Freedom Caucus who campaigned as an alternative to the leaders who presided over the party’s crushing midterm defeat².

Jordan, a close Trump ally, pitched himself as a counterweight to Democrats’ expected investigative onslaught⁵. That points to a confrontational posture from the House minority as the new Congress begins⁵.

In the Senate, the pressure on Thune exposed divisions even though it fell short. Senate Republicans spent roughly two hours behind closed doors hashing out their path forward, and Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin led much of the conversation, arguing for a delay and demanding an aggressive lame-duck schedule¹. Senators skeptical of Thune’s leadership did not appear to have the votes to delay his re-election, but fractures are emerging⁴.

What to watch

The lame-duck session is the near-term test. Johnson’s demand for an aggressive schedule¹ signals that some Republicans want to make full use of their remaining weeks in the majority, and how leadership responds will be the first sign of Thune’s footing after the vote³.

The second is how the House minority handles oversight. With Jordan as leader, House Republicans are gearing up for a fight⁵, and his pitch centred on countering Democratic investigations⁵.

The third is Senate unity. The post-election drama in the Senate escalated quickly⁶, and while Thune survived the push for delay³, the infighting that followed the election drubbing⁴ has not been settled.