Speaker Mike Johnson Steps Aside as House Republican Leader After Midterm Rout; Scalise and Jordan Join Race
Johnson will not seek to become minority leader in the new Congress after Democrats won the House, setting up a Steve Scalise vs Jim Jordan contest; Hakeem Jeffries is set to become Speaker.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson will not try to stay on as leader of the House Republicans after his party’s heavy defeat in Tuesday’s midterm elections, The Associated Press reported on Wednesday, citing two people familiar with his decision.
Johnson, who won a sixth term from his Shreveport-area district in Louisiana, is expected to remain in the House as an ordinary member when the new Congress meets in January. With Democrats now in the majority, he had no route back to the Speaker’s chair.
A two-way fight to succeed him
His exit opens a contest for the post of minority leader. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, also from Louisiana, told colleagues in a letter that the result was “far worse than any of us expected” and that he would run. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the former chair of the Judiciary Committee and a favourite of the party’s hard right, also announced a bid, describing himself as “battle-tested”.
The two men have been rivals before: both tried for the Speakership in 2023 after Kevin McCarthy was removed, and neither could win a majority, which opened the door for Johnson. Republicans are expected to choose their new leader when members-elect meet in Washington next week.
Jeffries in line for the gavel
Democrats are preparing to nominate their leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, as Speaker, the post second in line to the presidency. If elected, he would be the first Black Speaker of the House. The vote is scheduled to be one of the first acts of the new Congress on 3 January 2027.
Johnson’s tenure
A relatively junior member of the leadership when he was elected Speaker in 2023, Johnson grew close to President Donald Trump, steered the party’s signature tax-and-spending package into law, and led one of the narrowest House majorities in modern times. His confident predictions that Republicans would defy the usual midterm setback for the president’s party did not hold, as Democrats picked up seats across the country.
Featured image: Photo: Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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