Wednesday House GOP members gathered at a closed-door meeting to elect key leadership roles for the upcoming Congressional term that starts in January.
CNN reports that Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was elected as House Republican minority leader beating Freedom Caucus member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) 159-43, according to members of Congress who were present at the vote.
McCarthy who is the current number two House Republican replaces the retiring Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI)
The Hill explains that unlike the Speakers role McCarthy “only needed to secure a simple majority of votes from his GOP colleagues to become minority leader.
FOX News reports that on Tuesday GOP whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) said, when asked about the Republican midterm election loses suffered in the House, “You always look in the mirror and see what you can do better.” He added that Republican’s, “need to do a better job of letting people know what we stand for.”
Scalise, who was injured last year when a gunman opened fire during House Republican’s practice for an annual baseball game won unanimous re-election as Whip on Tuesday.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), FOX News reports, was also elected on Wednesday as the GOP conference chairman, making her the only woman in Republican leadership roles, according to the article, Cheney “is expected to spearhead the House GOP’s communication strategy.”
The article explains that Cheney ran unopposed for the spot, replacing Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), who declined to continue in the number three spot for Republican leadership.
In an interview with AP News Cheney explained, “We’ve got to change the way that we operate and really in some ways be more aggressive, have more of a rapid response.”
