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Politics

Speaker Mike Johnson Will Not Seek House Republican Leadership Post After Midterm Losses

House Speaker Mike Johnson told staff Wednesday that he will not run to lead House Republicans in the next Congress. Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan are now competing for the post after Democrats swept both chambers in the midterm elections.

By admin Nov. 5, 2026 · 2:39 AM ET 2 min read

The United States Capitol building lit up at dusk, viewed from the west front across the lawn.

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson told staff on Wednesday morning that he will not run for minority leader in the new Congress, stepping aside from Republican leadership after his party lost control of the House in the midterm elections, according to two people familiar with the announcement.

Johnson won reelection to his House seat from his Shreveport-area district in Louisiana, his eighth term in office. He is expected to stay in Congress as a rank-and-file member when the new Congress convenes in January, according to the Associated Press and USA Today.

The empty chamber of the United States House of Representatives, with rows of seats facing the speaker's rostrum.
The empty chamber of the United States House of Representatives, with rows of seats facing the speaker’s rostrum.

A race to succeed him

The decision opens a contest for the top House Republican post. Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio have both said they will seek the job. House Republicans are scheduled to hold leadership elections on Nov. 10, according to NPR.

Scalise ran for speaker in 2023 but dropped out after he could not gather enough support, and Johnson then won the post as the consensus choice. A person familiar with the situation said Johnson did not want to get in the way of Scalise’s ambitions, USA Today reported.

American flags flying in front of a white marble congressional office building in Washington.
American flags flying in front of a white marble congressional office building in Washington.

A reversal from his earlier plans

Johnson’s move reverses what he said before the election. In a June 29 interview with USA Today, he said he intended to keep “steady hands at the wheel” of Republican leadership and to win the election and keep the speakership.

President Donald Trump told reporters later Wednesday that he did not ask Johnson to step down. “We’ll stay out of it,” Trump said. “The speaker was fantastic, the people under him were fantastic, all good people.”

Marble columns and steps of a government building in Washington, with the Capitol dome in the distance and blurred pedestrians on the steps.
Marble columns and steps of a government building in Washington, with the Capitol dome in the distance and blurred pedestrians on the steps.

Johnson first won the speaker’s gavel in 2023, after House Republicans removed Kevin McCarthy of California, and he served two terms as speaker. Democrats are preparing to nominate House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York for speaker, and the full House is set to elect its speaker when the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3, 2027. Jeffries would be the first Black lawmaker elected to the post, according to NPR.

Reporting based on coverage by USA Today, the Associated Press and NPR.

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