House Speaker Mike Johnson will be stepping aside from Republican Party leadership after the GOP’s wipeout in the midterm election, declining to seek support to stay on as House minority leader in the new Congress, two people familiar with his decision said Wednesday.
Johnson is expected to retain his seat as a rank-and-file member of the House from Louisiana when Congress convenes in January. He won reelection from his Shreveport-area district for an eighth term in office.
It’s a swift rise and fall for Johnson, often seen as an accidental speaker, who nevertheless drew close to President Donald Trump and led the House GOP during a tumultuous era, with one of the slimmest majorities in modern times.
And it sets up a fierce internal party battle for the new GOP leader after Democrats swept to power.
Rep. Steve Scalise, the House majority leader, is running for the leadership post, according to a person familiar with his plans. The people who told The Associated Press about Johnson’s and Scalise’s decisions insisted on anonymity to disclose them.
Sources close to Scalise say he will be announcing his run for Republican Leader for the next Congress on Wednesday.
A source close to Scalise says 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 says he has spent his career unifying Republicans and he is prepared for the big legislative and oversight battles ahead. The conference knows him, how he fights, and that he’s a trusted leader, according to the source.
VIDEO: Rep. Steve Scalise full victory speech
House Republicans are expected to elect their new leader when members-elect gather in Washington next week, in what will likely be a familiar showdown between two who reached for the top spot before — Scalise of Louisiana and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.
Johnson’s sunny assertions that Republicans would defy history in the midterms, as voters traditionally have punished the president’s party in power, failed to hold. Instead, Republicans were trounced as Democrats swept to the House majority, leaving Johnson without a path to power.
The powerful speaker’s gavel is now expected to pass to Democrats, who are preparing to nominate House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York for the job, second in line to the president after the vice president. The House speaker’s election is among the first votes of the new Congress, on Jan. 3, 2027.
READ MORE:Mike Johnson won’t seek minority leader position, Scalise will pursue, AP reports
