House Republicans chose Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio as their new leader in a closed-door secret ballot, defeating Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana. The vote came days after Republicans lost both chambers of Congress and a string of state races.

Jordan, a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus and one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal defenders in Washington, inherits a conference in the minority for the first time in four years. Speaker Mike Johnson announced he was stepping aside rather than seeking another leadership post.

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From Fox News: 

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., also handily defeated Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, for the No. 2 leadership job of minority whip. The final vote count was 103 to 76, per sources.

“I personally like Steve, but he’s been in leadership since before I was in Congress. And Jim Jordan, while he’s a leader in Congress, he hasn’t been part of the leadership team. He basically rose through the ranks because he was super effective,” Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital.

Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., another Jordan ally, told Fox News Digital the Ohio Republican “understands what we’re up against,” adding, “His ability to communicate is really kind of unrivaled by anybody else in the House right now.”

Republicans met Tuesday morning for a candidate forum, where every lawmaker seeking a leadership post took questions from colleagues. Sources in the room said the session was largely cordial and that Jordan and Scalise each pitched himself as the best choice to unify the conference. Both signaled they would give members wide latitude to “vote their districts,” and several members asked how the next leader would bring the conference together after the losses and how he would handle leaks to reporters. Jordan told Fox News Digital the forum went well but declined to elaborate, citing the confidentiality of closed-door meetings.

The electorate included incumbent House Republicans and members-elect projected to win last week. Ballots were secret, so no one had to reveal a vote. Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan, the conference chairwoman, survived a challenge and kept her job. Neither the vote tally in the leader’s race nor the identity of Scalise’s backers was released.

The source carried no statement from Scalise, Johnson’s office, or the members-elect who voted. Democrats, who won the majority, have signaled a series of investigations targeting Trump’s Cabinet, family and business interests. Jordan is positioned as the conference’s chief defender in that fight.

First Corinthians 16:13 says, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” Courage in public office is a virtue scripture commands, but so is self-control, and the two are meant to travel together. Pray that Jim Jordan would lead with both, that he would be watchful in the coming investigations and firm on the principles voters sent Republicans to defend. Pray for wisdom for the whole House GOP conference as it rebuilds after a painful loss, for humility to learn from what happened, and for Democrats and Republicans alike to pursue truth rather than spectacle in the oversight fights ahead.

How are you praying about this issue? Share your prayers and scriptures in the comments below.

(Excerpt from Fox News. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America – Jim Jordan, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113608683).