(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Na-ri Baek = Congressman Jim Jordan (62), a hard-line ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, will lead the Republican Party in the Federal House of Representatives, which suffered a crushing defeat in the midterm elections.
Rep. Jordan is a loyalist among loyalists who stood at the forefront of President Trump's impeachment defense during the first administration. In response to the expected offensive by the Democratic Party, which controls the Senate and House of Representatives, the Republican Party also counterattacked with a belligerent leadership choice.
The U.S. House of Representatives' Republican Party held a closed meeting on the 10th (local time) and elected Rep. Jordan as the party's floor leader for next year with 106 votes in favor to 73 votes against.
Current floor leader Steve Scalise, who ran against Rep. Jordan, was eliminated. Rep. Jordan, who has the most aggressive tendencies in the party, ousted Scalise, who had been a member of the Republican Party leadership since 2014 due to his pragmatic tendencies.
Representative Jordan's offensive posture was judged to be advantageous in protecting the Republican Party against the Democratic Party, which is proclaiming a full-scale investigation of President Trump, his family, and members of the administration following a landslide victory in the midterm elections.
Scalise's elimination is interpreted as reflecting public opinion within the party that the current Republican leadership cannot be free from responsibility for the crushing defeat in the midterm elections.
Rep. Jordan is one of President Trump's close associates who has served as his action leader. During the first administration, he took the lead in defending the Democratic Party's impeachment of President Trump and increased his presence.
President Trump gave Representative Jordan the Medal of Freedom right before he leaves office in early 2021. The Medal of Freedom is the highest honor a president can bestow on a civilian.
Rep. Jordan actively sympathized with President Trump's claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and lost, and solidified his position as a key aide by leading the Freedom Caucus, a group of hard-line Republican conservatives in Congress.
Representative Jordan, who was also a wrestler during his school days, is a figure who has contributed not only to the leadership of the Democratic Party but also the Republican Party. Former House Speaker John Boehner, who resigned due to the backlash of hard-liners including Rep. Jordan, called Rep. Jordan a “congressional terrorist.”
With Rep. Jordan's election as Republican floor leader, there is a high possibility that a bitter confrontation between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party will continue in the U.S. Congress next year.
Representative Jordan is expected to focus on defending President Trump, regardless of the public sentiment shown by his crushing defeat in the midterm elections, and to rebuild MAGA (Make America Great Again), President Trump's core support base, which is in danger of weakening its power after the election.
It is reported that there are concerns among some in the Republican Party that Rep. Jordan's election as floor leader could antagonize moderate voters who have turned their backs on President Trump. In order to win the 2028 presidential election, the party's line must be adjusted in a way that can capture the public sentiment of competing states, but this means that the party is going in the opposite direction.
CNN said that the Republican Party chose one of the most aggressive and combative figures in the party as its leader, saying, "This is a clear signal that the Republican Party is preparing for battle, not compromise, with the Democratic Party next year."
Representative Jordan, chairman of the House Legislation and Judiciary Committee, is also the person who led the so-called 'Coupang Report'.
The report, led by Republican members of the Judiciary Committee, contains detailed Coupang's one-sided claims and has been used to argue that the Korean government discriminates against American companies.
Attention is being paid to whether Rep. Jordan's election as floor leader will give further strength to these claims. President Trump has repeatedly signaled that he has no intention of changing his foreign policy stance despite his crushing defeat in the midterm elections.
