Is this how the Freedom Caucus ends?

Here's why Jim Jordan got walloped by Kevin McCarthy

Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy.

The recent battle between Reps. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Jim Jordan (Ohio) for House minority leader had all the low-stakes drama of two salutatorians vying for a student council treasurership. Jordan, the founder of the House Freedom Caucus, lost spectacularly on Wednesday to McCarthy, who had the backing of President Trump, in a 159-43 vote.

John Nance Garner, who served under Franklin Roosevelt after losing the Democratic presidential nomination, famously quipped that the vice presidency was "not worth a bucket of warm piss." How high a premium should anyone place on the opportunity to lead a party in the lower chamber under a president who, assuming he signs any hugely significant legislation in the next two years, is more likely to work with the opposition on a gigantic trillion-dollar infrastructure bill that contradicts all your stated principles than he is to work hard for your agenda?

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Matthew Walther

Matthew Walther is a national correspondent at The Week. His work has also appeared in First Things, The Spectator of London, The Catholic Herald, National Review, and other publications. He is currently writing a biography of the Rev. Montague Summers. He is also a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.