Jim Jordan’s election as the top House Republican has given the Freedom Caucus a leader in the party’s highest ranks—and raised questions about the future of the faction he helped create.

Jordan co-founded the hard-line conservative group and served as its first chair in 2015. Since then, the caucus has often exerted leverage by withholding support from Republican leaders in closely divided House majorities. Former Speaker John Boehner once called Jordan a “legislative terrorist.”

Now, Jordan is set to lead a GOP on track to hold the smallest House minority any party has had in more than 30 years. Several influential Freedom Caucus veterans are also leaving the House after this term, adding to the uncertainty over how the group will operate.

Rep. Clay Higgins, a caucus member, acknowledged that its circumstances have changed. The group will no longer be “the most powerful faction within a legislative body that has legislative authority through majority control,” he said. “Well, that’s off the table now.”

At a Wednesday news conference, caucus members rejected the idea that their influence would diminish. Higgins said the group’s “principles are the same,” but that it would focus more on strategic alignment to protect recent gains.

Jordan remains a Freedom Caucus member, according to a spokesperson. Rep. Eric Burlison, who is running this month for caucus chair, suggested that working with one of its own as party leader could bring complications.

“It’s like when you hire your brother to build your house,” Burlison said. “There may be some awkward moments, but at the end of the day, we have a shared goal and a shared vision.”

Rep. Keith Self said Jordan’s responsibilities now extend across the Republican conference. “We don’t expect him to be a direct advocate for HFC,” Self said. “He will certainly be a friend of HFC.”

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, Republicans are pressing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other officials over the department’s handling of a firm at the center of Nvidia-related espionage and chip-smuggling allegations. More than half a dozen Republicans have sought answers about whether officials favored technology companies over national security.

Meanwhile, House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes is urging Senate leaders to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act during the lame-duck session. The program expires in March, but intelligence officials warn that waiting beyond this month could delay necessary judicial approval.