House Republicans have elected to keep Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California at the head of party leadership, the Associated Press reports. McCarthy, the House’s majority leader since 2014, will serve as minority leader come January.
McCarthy beat Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a founder of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, in Wednesday’s closed-door elections. Bolstered by an endorsement from the exiting House Speaker Paul Ryan, McCarthy was elected by a large margin: 159-43, CNN reports.
In the letter announcing his bid for minority leader, McCarthy wrote that House Republicans “need to lay the groundwork to regain the majority so that we can continue working alongside President Trump to fulfill our promise to fundamentally change Washington.”
House Democrats, who hold the majority following this year’s midterm elections, will select their leadership at the end of the month. The entire House will elect a new speaker in January.
Little Change in Senate Leadership
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was elected to another term as party leader. The GOP whip, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, was pushed out by term limits. He’ll be replaced with Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.
Senate Democrats reelected Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Minority Whip Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois to continue in their positions for another term.