Jim Jordan, once called a 'legislative terrorist' by a top Republican, will now lead the party in U.S. House

Detailed summary

The Republicans may have just lost control of the House of Representatives in resounding fashion, but they signalled Tuesday they may not be in a conciliatory mood with Democrats,…

The Republicans may have just lost control of the House of Representatives in resounding fashion, but they signalled Tuesday they may not be in a conciliatory mood with Democrats, picking combative Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan as their leader in the chamber.

Jordan, a longtime ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, emerged from a closed-door session with party colleagues Tuesday as the winner over Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana to become House minority leader.

Jordan, 62, said Republicans would focus on fighting for American families over the next two years.

“When Democrats offer more government, we’ll offer more freedom,” he said. “We will bring that fight in committee, on the floor and on the stump every single day.”

Jordan, once described as the "walking embodiment of conflict-mindedness" by a member of the conservative Federalist Society, was first elected to Congress in 2006. He was seen as one of the prime Republicans legislators responsible for a 16-day shutdown in late 2013 over a government funding bill, in opposition to plans from Barack Obama's administration to push ahead with landmark health-care legislation.

Not seeing his party's leadership as sufficiently to the right, Jordan soon founded the House Freedom Caucus with Ron DeSantis, Mark Meadows (North Carolina) and Mick Mulvaney (South Carolina). DeSantis would eventually leave Congress for two terms as Florida governor, while Meadows and Mulvaney served in the first Trump administration.

John Boehner, the former Republican House Speaker from Ohio who often bore the brunt of appeals from that caucus, once described Jordan as a "legislative terrorist."

"I just never saw a guy who spent more time tearing things apart — never building anything, never putting anything together," Boehner told CBS News in a 2021 interview.

Boehner's comments may not have been just a matter of a retired politician settling scores.

Opening of the article, excerpted from CBC News. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.