House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) will not try to stay on as Republican leader next year, according to a top aide, in the wake of his party’s resounding midterm rout.
Ahead of the elections, two other House GOP lawmakers — Majority Leader Steve Scalise (Louisiana) and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (Ohio) — signaled plans to run for minority leader regardless of Johnson’s intentions.
Jordan made his plans public in a letter to Republican colleagues on Wednesday morning.
“In times like these, I’m reminded of the resilience and optimism of the American people,” he wrote. “When Americans get knocked down, they pick themselves up and go back to work.”
Scalise later confirmed his leadership bid in a letter to colleagues.
“Last night’s election was far worse than any of us expected. We fought hard and left it all on the field, but clearly, we were unable to defy history,” Scalise wrote.
“This is no doubt a challenging time for our conference, but overcoming adversity is nothing new to me,” he said.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump — who is close to Johnson — told reporters outside the White House that he does not plan to endorse a candidate for House minority leader.
“We’ll stay out of it,” Trump said. “The speaker was fantastic. The people that were under him were fantastic. All good people. I guess right now you have two candidates, right?”
Johnson’s decision also was confirmed by two fellow GOP lawmakers. All three people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a decision he has not announced publicly.
Johnson ascended to the speakership in October 2023, after a handful of House Republicans helped oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) from the post.
While Johnson enjoyed Trump’s support, he has struggled at times to guide the current narrow-thin Republican majority.
His decision to step away from leadership follows a back-and-forth that left some House Republicans scratching their heads.
In October, Johnson told CBS News that if the GOP lost the majority in the midterms, he would “stay and serve” as minority leader.
Just a week earlier, however, he’d opened the possibility of leaving leadership — and, potentially, Congress — if the GOP lost the majority. He told Fox News that “if God moves on our hearts and says we should, you know, go back to my hometown of Shreveport and start a lawn business, I’ll do that.” An aide later said Johnson was joking.
Republican strategists said Wednesday that it would be hard for Johnson to earn continued support in the GOP caucus for a leadership role given the magnitude of the midterm losses.
“This is a pretty tough scene,” said a former senior GOP aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid.
He referenced the election of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) as minority leader after Democrats lost control of the chamber in 2010 and she lost the speakership.
“We’re not Democrats,” the former aide said. “In the Republican parties, you know, we like to eat our own.”
Speakers often face pressure to accept the blame when their party loses a significant number of seats and to leave leadership. Some, such as former speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia), who oversaw losses in 1998, chose to leave Congress.
Now Scalise and Jordan have to campaign among their peers for the top position — which in the next Congress will come with little power, given that Democrats are expecting to have a majority margin so large that they may not need Republican votes most of the time.
Whoever leads the GOP next Congress, however, will be in charge of two major tasks: defending Trump, his family and his administration from Democrats’ promised investigations and figuring out how to get Republicans back in the majority in 2028.
A former senior GOP aide noted that Scalise would probably rely on his many years in leadership as he makes the case to the conference, while Jordan may be counting on the fact that many of the members who stood in the way of his 2023 speakership bid are no longer in the House.
House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain (Michigan) and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (Minnesota) are running for reelection to their present positions in the minority.
Less drama is expected over other top leadership posts in the new Congress.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) are well-positioned to ascend to the top positions in the majority.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) said before the election that he expected to seek another term as leader regardless of whether Republicans won or lost control of the chamber. A Thune spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that he’s running for minority leader.
Thune has served as majority leader for nearly two years, after winning a competitive race to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) as the Republican leader in the Senate. No Republicans have said they will challenge Thune ahead of next week’s leadership election, although a challenger could still emerge.
Schumer has led Senate Democrats for a decade. No senators have said they will challenge him.
While there appeared to be questions before the election over Schumer’s future as Democratic leader, Tuesday’s sweep further cements the longtime New York Democrat’s hold over his caucus.
The new balance of power in the House comes with a new generation of Democratic leaders. Following the 2022 cycle, longtime Democratic leader Pelosi took a step back from leadership, making way for Jeffries to become the next top Democrat in the House.
Pelosi’s top allies — Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) and James E. Clyburn (D-South Carolina) — also stepped away as House majority leader and whip, respectively. That opened the door for two younger Democratic leaders, Reps. Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts) and Pete Aguilar (D-California), who have been serving as House minority whip and House Democratic caucus chairman, respectively, for almost four years.
Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar are expected to govern the House now that Democrats have control. Democratic caucus leadership elections this month are expected to formalize their ascendancy: Jeffries as speaker, Clark as majority leader and Aguilar as whip.
Alongside Jeffries being the first Black speaker, Clark would become the first woman majority leader, and Aguilar the first Latino majority whip.
The significance of these “firsts” is not lost on them.
“As proud as I will be to be the first woman majority leader, it’s about time,” Clark told The Washington Post last month.
The speaker will be elected by the full House in a roll-call vote when the next Congress convenes. Before the floor vote, however, House Democrats will get to vote privately to nominate Jeffries.
While a handful of progressives have not committed to voting for Jeffries, he has broad support among Democrats and is widely expected to be elected House speaker.
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