Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced he will not be running for House Minority Leader after Republicans got hammered in the midterm elections, losing their majority in the House. Almost immediately, word leaked out that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), one of the tougher MAGA fighters on Capitol Hill, is planning to make a run at the top leadership slot.
The numbers are brutal. Republicans appear to have lost at least 25 House seats and seven Senate seats, handing Democrats a wide majority in both chambers. That kind of wipeout has a way of focusing the mind, and plenty of Republicans in the base were quick to point fingers at congressional leadership for accomplishing almost nothing during two years of total control over Washington. All that power, and they frittered it away. Remarkable, really.
Politico reported the news about Johnson’s decision based on two people who were on House GOP leadership race. According to that reporting, Johnson told staff on a private call Wednesday morning that he would not be seeking a leadership position, even though he handily won his own seat back in Louisiana. Politico noted that Johnson had privately mulled running for Minority Leader if things went south, but decided against it after seeing just how far south things actually went.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (the most useless RINO in history since he didn’t help pass the SAVE Act) actually caught more blame than Johnson from conservative critics, since Johnson at least managed to push more through the House than Thune got done in the Senate. Still, Johnson wasn’t exactly showered with praise on election night. When a party loses that badly, everybody in leadership gets some of the splatter.
With Johnson stepping aside, Politico says the race now comes down to Rep. Steve Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan. Scalise is generally seen as the more establishment pick, while Jordan has built a reputation as the fighter conservatives love watching go toe-to-toe with Democrats. That said, Jordan also carries a reputation in some corners for being more effective at writing strongly worded letters than delivering actual wins, so there’s a real debate to be had. Punchbowl News first reported that Jordan is officially making a move for the Minority Leader spot.
