Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has vowed to help lead Republicans back to the majority in 2020. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO Congress McCarthy hits hard at Dems after winning minority leader post The California Republican easily defeated conservative hard-liner Jim Jordan.

House Republicans immediately resumed a wartime posture Wednesday after electing their new leadership — vowing to aggressively resist Democrats' agenda and work to recapture the House majority after being routed in last week's elections.

In his first news conference after Republicans chose him to be House minority leader next year, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) largely attributed the GOP wipeout to historical trends while also repeatedly blaming spending by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as the cause of several Republican defeats in close contests.


And rather than offer any conciliatory words to Democratic leaders, McCarthy and his newly appointed leadership team said they intend to retake the House in 2020 and push back against a Democratic agenda they described as primarily aimed at unseating President Donald Trump.

"I know they want to abolish ICE. I know they want to impeach the president," McCarthy said. "I just don’t think that’s the agenda Americans want."

McCarthy's comments came shortly after his colleagues and incoming GOP freshmen elected him to be the top House Republican in next year's Congress, easily casting aside a challenge for the post from conservative firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

Sign up here for POLITICO Huddle A daily play-by-play of congressional news in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

McCarthy got 159 votes to Jordan’s 43 in the members-only session, according to Republican sources in the room.

The victory sealed McCarthy's yearslong drive to rise to the top of the House Republican Conference, an effort derailed by Jordan and the conservative House Freedom Caucus in 2015. Back then, McCarthy was running for speaker but ran into opposition from the Freedom Caucus and withdrew his name from consideration. That cleared the way for Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to become speaker.

Ryan announced in April he would retire from the House; amid intense jockeying behind the scenes to replace him, McCarthy consistently remained the front-runner.

House Republicans also filled out the rest of their leadership team for the new Congress with few surprises.

Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana will be minority whip, and Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming — a rising star in the party and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney — will be Republican Conference chairwoman. Rep. Mark Walker of North Carolina will be vice chair and Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota will chair the National Republican Campaign Committee. Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama will lead the Republican Policy Committee. Palmer is the first member of the Freedom Caucus to capture a leadership role.

Following McCarthy's comments, Cheney gave a nod to the GOP's struggles among women and minorities. She insisted that Republicans would "take a back seat to no one" when it comes to "doing what's right for America's women, America's minorities."

McCarthy also acknowledged Republicans' struggles in the suburbs.

"We took a beating inside the suburban areas," he said, adding, "Our ideas are going to have to be stronger."

McCarthy’s victory is a bittersweet one, coming as Republicans prepare to hand the speaker's gavel back to Democrats for the first time in eight years.

Dragged down by history and Trump’s dismal poll numbers, Democrats enjoyed their biggest House victory since the Watergate scandal of the 1970s. Democrats are on track to gain 35 to 40 seats, including a slew in McCarthy’s home state of California, where an already small number of Republican House members saw their ranks shrink dramatically.

McCarthy didn't mention Trump in his remarks after the leadership elections, instead alluding to him only when asked about the reason for GOP losses. He criticized Democrats for what he said seemed to be a plan to impeach the president, though Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has rebuffed the notion. He also sidestepped a question about whether Trump's unpopularity and divisive rhetoric hurt Republicans in the elections — saying only that presidents nearly always see their party lose seats in the midterms.

In McCarthy's pitch to the GOP Conference, multiple members said the Californian touted his role in recapturing the House from Democrats back in 2010 — a feat Republicans are now solely focused on repeating.

“I think the consensus was, he could unify us. He helped us win back the majority from Nancy Pelosi once, and we believe he can do it again,” Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) told reporters.

Multiple GOP veterans left Wednesday’s meeting visibly energized and ready to spar with Democratic leaders.

“We know the Democrats’ base is going to be pushing them toward investigations and impeachments ad nauseam, probably Cabinet officials, maybe a Supreme Court justice, certainly a president,” said Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), a longtime lawmaker who helped lead the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998. “When they overreach, which I’m sure they will, then I think we should push back and we should push back aggressively,” added Chabot, who is running for the top GOP spot on the House Judiciary Committee.

McCarthy was nominated for the post by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, (R-Texas); Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Brian Mast (R-Fla.) also spoke in favor.

The California Republican will still have to deal with Jordan, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and other House conservatives who have made headaches for GOP leaders over the years.

POLITICO reported Tuesday night that Trump urged McCarthy to “make everybody happy” in regard to Jordan, who wants to be ranking member on the Judiciary Committee. However, Jordan is not popular with other House Republicans and may not be able to jump over more senior lawmakers for the Judiciary post.

In his remarks, McCarthy thanked Jordan for running against him but gave little indication of what he expects Jordan's role to be in the next Congress.

Meadows told reporters that he thinks Jordan has earned a look to lead Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, a role that would make him Trump's most prominent defender in any impeachment probe.

Jordan left the vote without speaking to reporters, but Meadows said Jordan was "gratified" to receive the 43 votes he got. He also said McCarthy would be a "good leader" and would "do his best to bring everybody together."

Asked whether Jordan should be elevated to the top GOP slot on the Judiciary Committee, Meadows added, "I think Jim’s earned the position for ranking member on Judiciary. But that’s not my call."

Other Jordan allies on the House Freedom Caucus signaled that they had made peace with McCarthy’s victory, particularly after one of their own won a spot on the GOP leadership team.

“In terms of right now, I think we made the right choice in Kevin,” Palmer told reporters. “When we get the majority back, [Jordan will] chair, and he will be a force to be reckoned with.”

