Speaker Mike Johnson steps aside as House GOP leader after midterm defeat
Editorial illustration — Press Pass USAHouse Speaker Mike Johnson will not run to lead House Republicans in the next Congress. The Louisiana Republican told his staff on a Wednesday morning call that he is stepping away from the party's top House job, a day after Democrats won back the majority in Tuesday's midterm elections.
Johnson is not leaving Congress. Voters in Louisiana's 4th District re-elected him on Tuesday, and he is expected to stay on as a rank-and-file member. What he is giving up is the leadership post itself: when the new Congress convenes in January, Democrats will hold the majority, and Johnson will not seek to lead Republicans in the minority.
The decision, first reported by Punchbowl News and confirmed by the Associated Press and Reuters, ends a three-year run as speaker. Johnson took the gavel in late 2023 after House Republicans ousted his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, and served two terms as speaker, working closely with the Trump administration while holding together the narrowest of majorities — a margin so thin that a single Republican defection could put the party's priorities at risk.
In a letter to House Republicans on Wednesday, Johnson said he was stepping away to spend more time with his wife, Kelly, and their four children. "The time has come for me to give them more of the attention and presence they so richly deserve," he wrote. The letter did not mention the election defeat.
It was a reversal of the position he had signaled before the election. In October, Johnson had told CBS News he would stay on as leader if Republicans lost the House. On election night, he acknowledged the scale of the loss, telling supporters that keeping the majority would have required defying more than a century of midterm history. "It's only happened twice in 90 years that a sitting president has picked up or held seats for his party in that first two-year cycle," he said. "It's very, very difficult to overcome, and it looks like history will be kept tonight."
The race to replace him opened within hours. Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio both announced bids on Wednesday, sending letters to their Republican colleagues. Scalise, Johnson's No. 2, wrote that his top goal as leader would be winning back the majority and proposed task forces to hear from people in "Real America" and shape legislation on issues including Social Security and Medicare. Jordan, an Ohio Republican, emphasized law and order, low taxes and traditional values. The two men also ran for speaker after McCarthy's ouster in 2023, when Jordan won the conference's internal vote but lost three consecutive floor ballots.
House Republicans are scheduled to elect their new leadership team on Tuesday, Nov. 10, by secret ballot, with candidates facing a Friday deadline to declare. President Donald Trump told reporters he would stay out of the leadership election, calling Johnson "fantastic."
Johnson will keep the gavel through the lame-duck session that closes out this Congress. When the new House is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2027, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York is in line to become speaker — a history-making turn, as he would be the first Black lawmaker elected to the position. With Democrats holding a comfortable margin, Jeffries is expected to be able to advance his priorities even if some members defect.
Sources: NPR, "Mike Johnson will step aside as top House Republican next Congress" (Nov. 4, 2026, full text verified); Reuters, "US House Speaker Johnson will not seek minority leadership post" (Nov. 4, 2026, full text verified). Event date verified: Johnson told staff Wednesday morning, Nov. 4, 2026; leadership election scheduled Nov. 10, 2026; new Congress convenes Jan. 3, 2027.
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