Sen. John Thune and Rep. Jim Jordan
WHAT HAPPENED: Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to keep Sen. John Thune of South Dakota as their leader in the 120th Congress, even though the GOP lost its majority in this year’s midterm elections. Thune was reelected by acclamation after a closed-door meeting. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and several other conservatives had pushed to postpone the vote, but Johnson acknowledged there was no clear alternative to Thune. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso was also reelected as whip. Neither faced a challenger. On the House side, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) defeated Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana by a 106-73 secret-ballot vote to become the next Republican leader. Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota won reelection as whip, beating Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, and Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan kept her post as conference chair. Rep. Brian Jack of Georgia was elected to chair the National Republican Congressional Committee.
WHY IT MATTERS: Thune, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, will remain one of agriculture’s most influential voices in Congress as he moves to the minority. He will still hold considerable leverage as long as the Senate maintains its 60-vote threshold for advancing legislation. In the House, Jordan will lead a Republican conference that has not been this small since the 1990 elections, while Democrats prepare to take the gavels of the committees that oversee agriculture and food policy with the largest majorities since the Obama administration.
WHAT’S NEXT: House Democrats will meet Nov. 18 and 19 to elect the leadership team that will run the chamber in the 120th Congress. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is the favorite to be the party’s nominee for speaker; the full House will vote on that when the new Congress convenes in January. Unlike minority leader elections, which require only a majority of the votes from the party in the minority, the Speaker election requires a majority of the full chamber. Jeffries has publicly backed Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) for majority leader, which would make her the first woman in the job. The majority leader runs the floor and is an additional leadership position for the majority party. Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) has formally announced a run for majority whip.
In the Senate, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said yesterday that he will run for Senate Majority Leader in the next Congress, setting up a challenge to Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. Schumer, who has led Senate Democrats since 2017, quickly responded, saying he welcomes “discussion about the future of our caucus” while adding, “I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader.” It will be the first contested election for Senate Democratic leader in decades. While most Democratic senators have either said they are supporting Schumer or are undecided, Van Hollen has at least two backers: Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan and Sen. Bernie Sanders. The No. 2 job will also change hands, since Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is retiring at the end of this Congress. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii is the favorite to succeed as majority whip.
