Jim Jordan was elected as the top House Republican. Now the relevance of the hard-line Freedom Caucus is in question.
Jordan is one of the ultra-conservative group’s co-founders and its very first chair back in 2015. The splinter faction since then has wielded its power by acting as a holdout bloc in GOP majorities, with former Speaker John Boehner once labeling Jordan a “legislative terrorist.”
But now Jordan is poised to helm a GOP on track to hold the smallest House minority any party has had in more than 30 years, with many influential HFC veterans also leaving the House after this term.
Jordan’s ascendance is prompting big questions about the role of a group that was established to prod party leaders rightward now that the GOP’s top man is one of their own.
“It’s completely variant from being the most powerful faction within a legislative body that has legislative authority through majority control,” said Rep. Clay Higgins, a caucus member. “Well, that’s off the table now.”
At a Wednesday news conference, several HFC members rejected the notion that there would be any diminishment of its influence. But many also believe Jordan in leadership will change how the group functions.
Higgins insisted the group’s “principles are the same” but it’ll be more focused on “strategic alignment to protect the gains that we have indeed made over the last few years.”
Others acknowledged in some fashion that the group’s relationship with Jordan — who is still an HFC member, according to a spokesperson — could be complicated.
“It’s like when you hire your brother to build your house,” Rep. Eric Burlison, who is running this month for caucus chair, said in an interview. “There may be some awkward moments, but at the end of the day, we have a shared goal and a shared vision.”
While current HFC members see his promotion as a win overall, they also said they understand he now has a mandate to lead the full range of GOP members.
“The further you go up in leadership, the broader your responsibility,” said Rep. Keith Self. “So we don’t expect him to be a direct advocate for HFC. He will certainly be a friend of HFC.”
What else we’re watching:
— GOP TURNS ON LUTNICK OVER NVIDIA: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other agency leaders are in Hill Republican’s crosshairs as the impact of Nvidia’s espionage scandal unfolds. Recent reports that the Commerce Department failed to take action on the firm at the center of the spying and chip-smuggling allegations have intensified scrutiny of the agency’s decisions to allow more foreign chip sales, particularly from Nvidia. Over the past 24 hours, more than half a dozen Republicans have demanded answers from Lutnick and top deputies over whether they put private tech interests above national security.
— HIMES URGES GOP TO TAKE FISA ‘WIN’ — House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes is urging Senate leadership to reauthorize a key spy program during the lame-duck session rather than waiting for the new Congress. Himes, who is likely to take over the House Intelligence panel next year, told POLITICO that he recently spoke with Senate Majority Leader John Thune about reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The program is due to expire in March, but intelligence officials have warned that there may be a lag in the needed judicial go-ahead if it isn’t renewed by the end of this month.
Mia McCarthy, Ari Hawkins, Gabby Miller, Jordain Carney, Katherine Hapgood, Maggie Miller and Gregory Svirnovskiy contributed to this report.
