Republicans Declare Crushing Defeat A Leadership Qualification
House Republicans celebrated their crushing midterm defeat this week by opening a competitive promotion process for the veteran leaders who successfully converted a governing majority into a spectator section. With Speaker Mike Johnson stepping aside after Democrats seized the House, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan began campaigning to become minority leader, the prestigious position responsible for objecting forcefully while Hakeem Jeffries schedules votes, passes legislation and occasionally permits Republicans to inspect the microphones.
Scalise argued that his years in leadership make him uniquely qualified to repair the damage accumulated during his years in leadership. Jordan countered that Republicans need a more confrontational approach because voters plainly punished the party for failing to hold enough hearings featuring poster-size photographs, furious interruptions and questions that expire three seconds before an answer. Both men promised a fresh start built around the same members, grievances, donors, television appearances and legislative plans that produced the defeat now being recognized as a mandate.
President Donald Trump announced that he would remain neutral, allowing both candidates to tell colleagues privately that he supports them completely. “They’re both tremendous, Steve and Jim, and I’m staying out of it because they don’t need me,” Trump said. “Whoever wins has my total support unless anything goes wrong, and then I never liked him, barely met him and strongly backed the other one from the beginning.” Republican lawmakers praised the statement as an orderly succession plan requiring only loyalty, clairvoyance and the ability to identify Trump’s preferred candidate after the ballots have been counted.
The winner will inherit the party’s bold new legislative agenda: block Democrats from passing bills Republicans previously failed to pass, defend Trump from investigations that have not yet been announced and explain that losing control of the House was merely the opening phase of a sophisticated comeback. Leadership elections are expected Tuesday, giving members several days to decide whether the party’s future should resemble its immediate past or a louder version of its immediate past. Republicans confirmed that voters demanded change, and the party has answered by promoting the officials who lost.
* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.