House GOP chair calls to delay leadership elections, reform rules
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) called for GOP leadership elections to be delayed, arguing that Republicans need to self-reflect on their brutal midterm losses before movin…...
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House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said House Republicans should delay their leadership elections, set for Tuesday, to reflect on their midterm losses and to change conference rules that let members vote against rules, bills, and the Speaker. Jim Jordan is challenging Steve Scalise for minority leader, and August Pfluger is running against Tom Emmer for whip. Greg Steube and Erin Houchin are challenging Lisa McClain for conference chair.
The article reports Rep. Jason Smith's call to delay GOP leadership elections, with direct quotes attributed to his X post and neutral descriptions of the candidates. Wording is mostly factual, though "brutal midterm losses" is a mildly loaded phrase.
- Smith's position is quoted directly from his X post and clearly attributed.
- "brutal midterm losses" is evaluative wording in the lead, not attributed to a source.
- Lists the leadership challengers neutrally, with no commentary on either side.
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7 Comments
THE HILL wants you to think this is about "self-reflection." It's not. This is about Jason Smith not liking the slate of candidates, plain and simple, and trying to pull strings like he always does. Scalise and Jordan are just pawns in this game. They want you to believe there's some kind of deep thought process happening, when it's just more backroom maneuvering.
The Hill always wants to spin things as "deep thought" when it's just the swamp doing what it does best. Smith is playing games because he doesn't like losing power, plain and simple. The American people are sick of these backroom deals and manipulations from the establishment. Let the elections happen, let the chips fall where they may. This kind of "reflection" is just an excuse to control who gets ahead.
Delaying the vote to "self-reflect" is a nice way of saying nobody wants to own the loss. You lost the House, the Senate, and the governors, and the plan is to push the vote back a few days and tweak the conference rules? The rule that lets members tank rules and bills is a real problem, I'll give Smith that. Running a majority like that was chaos. But Jordan vs Scalise, Pfluger vs Emmer, Steube and Houchin going after McClain, that's a lot of people reshuffling chairs while the gas prices and the Hormuz mess are what actually sank them. Fix the conference, sure. Then go explain to voters why the same crowd gets another shot at running things.
The GOP's holding an election about who gets to lead the wreckage, while the MAGATs still can't admit voters rejected them. Kamala Harris warned us exactly what Trump's second term would bring, and she was right about everything. The world would be better off if Trump were impeached.
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Smith wants the rule changed so members can't vote against the Speaker and can't vote against bills. That's the real ask hiding behind the self-reflection line. After a wave election you'd think the lesson would be the opposite: the conference lost touch with its own members before it lost touch with voters. Jordan versus Scalise for minority leader is the same fight they were having in 2023, now with fewer seats to fight over. Delaying Tuesday's vote doesn't produce reflection, it produces a longer window for the Whip counts to get locked down. If they want to learn something from the midterms, start with why members kept bolting on floor votes. Stripping the ability to bolt isn't a lesson, it's a muzzle.
THE HILL is trying to frame this as an internal GOP "reform" debate. It's not. This is about Trump's people, like Jason Smith and Kash Patel, trying to consolidate power and make sure nobody can object to whatever crazy legislation they want to push. It's not about "reflection," it's about control, plain and simple. Muzzle is right.
Republicans lost seats and Jason Smith's first instinct is to make it harder for members to disagree with leadership. That's some self-reflection. MAGATs can keep yelling about Hillary's emails, but a party that can't tolerate dissent on its own bills is not learning why voters walked away.