Speaker Mike Johnson Won’t Seek GOP Leader Post as Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise Vie for Top Job

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will not run to lead House Republicans in the next Congress after Democrats took control of the chamber in Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Johnson revealed the decision on an all-staff call Wednesday morning, two sources told Fox News Digital. A person familiar with the plans also confirmed it to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

His exit opens the race for House minority leader to two senior Republicans. Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., are both seeking the job, the Washington Examiner reported.

Jordan began calling colleagues late Tuesday as the losses mounted. In a Wednesday letter to House Republicans, first obtained by Fox News Digital, he called the day after the election “staggering.”

“We are all losing colleagues and friends who’ve been valuable members of our Conference and leaders in our party. As we look to the future, we must learn from these results,” Jordan wrote.

“I am battle-tested on the oversight front and I know the Democrats’ playbook,” he added. “I know what it will take to lead our Conference in the minority, to stay unified, and to coordinate and calibrate our response to the Democrats’ tactics.”

Scalise Pitches Experience

Scalise, Johnson’s No. 2 and a fellow Louisianan, has begun telling colleagues he will run, two sources told Fox News. One source said his “number one goal will be to lead the conference back into the majority.”

“He is a proven and tested leader who is ready on day one,” the source said. “The conference knows him, how he fights, and that he’s a trusted leader.”

Scalise has spent more than a decade in House GOP leadership, but his October 2023 bid to succeed ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy collapsed before reaching a House-wide vote. Johnson won the gavel weeks later.

The minority leader race is an easier climb than a speaker vote. The winner needs only a majority of House Republicans, not a majority of the full 435-member House.

Several House Republicans told Fox News Digital they want new leadership after the losses. Jordan, who campaigned for candidates across the country this fall, had been expected for months to run if the GOP lost the majority.

Whoever wins will likely lead the party’s defense of President Donald Trump against Democratic investigations. Democrats will have the power to block his agenda, reject his appointees and probe his administration, the AP reported.

Democrats flipped more than two dozen House districts, some of which Trump carried by double digits in 2024. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York is in line to become speaker when the new Congress convenes Jan. 3.

Republicans projected to lose include Reps. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, Tim Moore of North Carolina and Victoria Spartz of Indiana. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson of North Carolina is also expected to lose, Fox News reported.

Johnson conceded the majority at his election night party in Shreveport. “We knew that to keep the House,” he said, “we would have to defy more than a century of midterm history. And it looks like history will be kept tonight.”

He also promised a comeback. “Republicans will not be deterred by the outcome of one election,” Johnson said, according to the Washington Examiner. “Come 2028, we will take back the House, and we will finish this job.”

Johnson’s future in the conference is unclear. Stepping aside after midterm losses follows precedent set by earlier GOP speakers, the Daily Caller noted.

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