They’ve lost dozens of seats and the majority, but House GOP leaders said Wednesday they believe they can regain control of the chamber in two years.
“We know we have our work cut out for us,” Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Wednesday after lawmakers elected him to serve as minority leader next year. “We know history worked against us, we know we had challenges in the suburban areas, and we are going to work on that. We’ll be back.”
Republican lawmakers voted to keep in place both McCarthy, who is now majority leader and Steve Scalise, R-La., who is the majority whip. They added a new face by electing Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., to replace outgoing GOP Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.
Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., joined the leadership team as the new conference vice chair.
McCarthy blamed classic election trends that favor the opposite party of the president in midterm elections, as well as heavy spending by Democrats to defeat GOP candidates, namely ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who spent $100 million against Republicans.
McCarthy and the GOP lawmakers said they plan to work with Democrats, unless attacks and investigations of President Trump dominate the new majority’s agenda.
“If their agenda is simply investigate and impeach and not focus on the hard-working American public, we will be there to defend the American public,” McCarthy said.
He added, “You cannot just resist.”
Cheney, whose father Dick Cheney was a House lawmaker and eventually vice president, gave his daughter some advice on winning the new leadership position.
“He told me not to screw it up,” Cheney said.
Cheney said the GOP will “take a back seat to no one” when it comes to representing the best interests of women and minorities.
Cheney’s job will include party messaging, a key component in winning seats. Republicans admitted they struggled to convince voters in this cycle that their policies were the reason behind the improved economy.
“We are absolutely going to take back this majority,” Cheney said.
