WASHINGTON — House Freedom Caucus co-founder Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) says a more conservative leadership team in the lower chamber can help “earn back” the trust of the Trump base “and hopefully retake the majority in 2020.”
Jordan is challenge Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to lead the House GOP in the 116th Congress. McCarthy sent a letter to colleagues on Wednesday lobbying for the top spot, arguing he “helped build a majority from a deeper hole than this and I have what it takes to do it again.”
Closed-door, secret-ballot leadership elections are scheduled for next week. The victor needs support from a simple majority of the GOP caucus.
“Here’s what’s going on: When the American people sent President Trump here, they sent him here to shake this town up. And I think he’s doing that. I don’t know that they’ve seen the same urgency, the same intensity from the House of Representatives. We haven’t replaced Obamacare. We haven’t reformed our welfare system and we certainly haven’t secured the border. Three of the things we were sent here to do,” Jordan told Fox on Thursday.
“Now I do think the Senate matched the president’s intensity,” he added. “Just a few weeks ago when they stood strong and got Judge Kavanaugh confirmed we need to step forward and show that same kind of urgency, intensity, demonstrate to the American people that we’re going to fight for the things we said we were going fight for.”
Jordan stressed that the GOP “just lost 30 some seats, we just lost the majority but we lost it at a time with four percent economic growth.”
“The lowest unemployment in 50 years. 250,000 jobs added last month. Maybe the American people expect us to have a little more intensity about getting done the things we said we would do,” he added. “The things they elected just come here and accomplish.”
Also, Jordan noted, “The world we’re walking into in January, Nancy Pelosi as speaker and Waters, Schiff, Cummings and Nadler cheering the key committees. That’s the world we’re walking into. They’re going to be trying to investigate everything.”
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