Last week after big Republican losses during the midterms, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced he would be stepping down as GOP leader. Not because he was responsible for what happened (in my view, he wasn’t; he managed to pass key legislation with the slimmest majority), but because he believed after the Republican drubbing now would be a good time to turn the ship over to a new captain.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will now lead House Republicans when they enter the minority next year after defeating current Majority Leader Steve Scalise in a closed-door leadership election Tuesday.
Republicans elected Jordan as their next minority leader by a 106-73 vote, according to results first reported by Punchbowl News and subsequently confirmed by multiple news organizations.
The victory elevates one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent congressional allies to the top position in the House Republican Conference following the party’s losses in last week’s midterm elections.
Jordan’s victory represents a significant leadership change for House Republicans.
The 62-year-old Ohio Republican is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus.
He spent years as a conservative critic of Republican leadership before gradually becoming one of the conference’s most influential members.
Jordan presented himself during the leadership campaign as the candidate best prepared to confront an incoming Democratic majority expected to launch extensive investigations into the Trump administration.
“I am battle-tested on the oversight front and I know the Democrats’ playbook,” Jordan wrote to Republican lawmakers while announcing his candidacy. “We need a leadership team that is active and engaged, forward-thinking and straight shooting.”
Jordan argued Republicans needed a detailed strategy for operating in the minority rather than simply reacting to Democratic investigations and legislation.
“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,” Jordan wrote. “For too long, we have operated without a clear plan to survive the hour or the day in front of us. That will not cut it against an emboldened and energetic Democrat majority.”
Scalise offered Republicans a different argument. The Louisiana Republican, who has served as the House GOP’s No. 2 leader since 2014, emphasized his experience, fundraising operation and ability to work across the conference.
“My number one goal as Republican Leader will be to win back the majority and I expect you to hold me accountable to that mission,” Scalise wrote to colleagues before the vote. “To succeed, we will need to be effective in both the oversight and legislative fights ahead, but we will also need to lay out a clear and optimistic vision for America.”
Scalise’s long tenure in leadership, however, became a liability with some Republicans following the party’s midterm losses.
Several Jordan supporters argued the conference needed a clean break from the leadership team that presided over the election. Indiana Republican Rep. Marlin Stutzman said before the vote that the party needed “new leadership, new voices.” He added: “I appreciate everything they’ve done and tried to do, but it didn’t work.”
The contest marked a reversal from the pair’s previous leadership battle. Scalise defeated Jordan in the Republican conference’s secret-ballot speaker nomination in October 2023.
Scalise withdrew one day later after determining he could not secure the votes necessary to win on the House floor. Jordan subsequently became the GOP speaker nominee but also failed to secure enough support. Republicans eventually elected Johnson speaker.
