Mike Johnson won't seek top GOP spot as House flips

Niels Lesniewski, CQ-Roll Call on Nov 4, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson will not seek to serve as House minority leader in the next Congress.

A source familiar with the speaker’s decision confirmed that the Louisiana Republican would not seek the post after Tuesday’s midterm elections saw Republicans lose their narrow majority in a Democratic tsunami.

Other candidates were already lining up. Fellow Louisiana Republican Steve Scalise, the current majority leader, is expected to launch a bid for minority leader Wednesday, according to a person familiar with his plans who described him as a “proven and tested leader.” And House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio is also throwing in his hat, according to multiple reports.

The Republican conference is set to hold its leadership elections next week.

Johnson held an election night event in Shreveport, La., after crisscrossing the country trying to protect the GOP majority, arguing throughout the campaign that polling favoring Democrats would not be accurate.

“While the outcome of this midterm is not what we’d hoped and fought for, a new battle is just beginning. This Democrat House majority will be led by the most radical and extreme leftists in American history,” Johnson said in a statement after Democrats claimed the majority. “However, Republicans will never stop fighting to defend the Constitution and protect the foundations that have made America the greatest nation in the history of the world.”

The blame game had already begun Wednesday morning, as Republicans reeled from losses that cut deeper than expected.

“The polls were not wrong. You were,” Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., wrote on social media, referring to his party’s leaders in the House and Senate. “Please do us all a favor and step aside so new leadership can take a truly conservative direction.”

—Mary Ellen McIntire contributed to this report.