House Republicans on Tuesday elected pro-Israel stalwart Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) as minority leader in the next Congress.

Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is known primarily as one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal advocates in Congress. The co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, he has remained staunchly pro-Israel even as other caucus members have grown more skeptical of U.S. aid to the Jewish state. 

In an interview with Jewish Insider last year, Jordan said that Israel stands in “a category all by themselves” among U.S. allies, and has warned against rising anti-Israel sentiment motivated by antisemitism on both sides of the aisle.

“When they need help, we should be helping Israel because there’s this special bond that exists between the Jewish people and Americans, and Israel and the United States. It’s just a special relationship. And a lot of it is because of the Judeo-Christian connection and heritage that we have,” he told JI. Jordan has taken a less supportive approach to other allies, including opposing aid to Ukraine.

He said at the time that he opposes a two-state solution.

In an interview in August, Jordan also defended the U.S. war against Iran.

“I know that things cost too much, but we’re working on that,” he said. “But we’ve got to also understand this regime … 47 years, largest state sponsor of terrorism, killed Americans, killed Israelis, killed others, killed thousands of their own people — they are bad, and you cannot let that regime get a nuclear weapon.”

He has also expressed support for legislation to combat antisemitism in the U.S., particularly raising concerns about the rise of antisemitism on college campuses and praising the steps taken by the Trump administration. The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the International Criminal Court in September. 

Jordan, a former wrestling coach, has emerged as an influential member of the House Republican Conference since coming to Congress in 2007. The Ohio lawmaker, who previously chaired the House Oversight Committee, became one of the president’s fiercest defenders and a political attack dog on his behalf during and after his first term, leading to Trump awarding him the presidential Medal of Freedom in the days after the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. 

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) temporarily appointed Jordan to the House Intelligence Committee in late 2019 to allow him to participate in hearings for the first impeachment of Trump. Jordan also refused to cooperate with a subpoena from the House committee investigating Jan. 6.

Jordan has been eyeing a role as Republican leader for years. He received a handful of votes during the 2013 and 2015 speakership races, and lost by a wide margin in the race to succeed Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as GOP leader in 2018.

Jordan came closer to the gavel in 2023, when he was one of several candidates whom Republicans put forward after McCarthy was deposed, but ultimately withdrew his bid amid opposition from GOP moderates and institutionalists.

He finally found his opportunity this week, after the crippling GOP losses in the midterms. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) declined to run for minority leader, and Jordan handily defeated current Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), 106-73.

In his successful bid, Jordan cited his record as a pugilist against Democrats as the chair of the Judiciary and Oversight Committees — which are likely to be central to Democrats’ efforts to investigate the Trump administration in the next Congress. He also spent election season crisscrossing the country to rally with Republicans and GOP candidates.

Dan Conston, the former president of the Congressional Leadership Fund and a member of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s board of directors, told Jewish Insider in a statement that Jordan “deeply recognizes the special bond between the United States and Israel.”

“In 2020, he and Speaker Johnson traveled together to Israel, where they stood at the Cave of the Patriarchs, the traditional burial place of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and walked the ancient ground of Shiloh,” Conston said. “Both men experienced a deeply moving journey to the very roots of the faith and heritage that the two nations share — before either reached leadership positions in the U.S. Congress. There is no doubt that Leader Jordan will champion the friendship between the two great allies and fight for the faith of the Jewish people both at home and abroad.”