Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio is seeking to lead House Republicans after the party’s heavy midterm losses, Fox News reported Wednesday, citing two sources. Jordan has not made an official announcement.
The bid sets up a fight for the job of House minority leader, the post that will lead the Republican opposition for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term after the House was projected to flip to Democrats. Speaker Mike Johnson, the potential rival for the job, told staff on an all-staff call that he is not running for House minority leader, Fox News reported, citing sources. Johnson remains in Congress.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana also plans to announce a bid for minority leader, Fox News reported, citing two sources. “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,” one source told Fox News. Neither Jordan nor Scalise has made a formal announcement, and nothing is decided. The contest is a rematch of sorts of their October 2023 leadership fight, which ended with Johnson becoming speaker.
Rep. Jim Jordan (Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0).
Republican lawmakers had expected a Jordan bid for months if the party lost the House, Fox News reported. The Judiciary Committee chairman has spent six years as the panel’s top Republican, clashing with the same Democrats who would now lead investigations of the Trump administration, and he campaigned across the country for Republican candidates this cycle, building goodwill inside the conference. Scalise, a senior leader and prolific fundraiser, has likewise spent the cycle crisscrossing the country for fellow Republicans.
The math could favor a challenger this time. Jordan ran for House speaker in October 2023 after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster and failed to win a majority of the full chamber. A minority leader needs only a majority of House Republicans – and many of the moderates who blocked him then lost their seats Tuesday night, according to the report.
What it means for you: the winner of this race becomes the Republican Party’s daily voice in Washington for two years, deciding how hard to fight the Democratic majority’s investigations and possible impeachment efforts – and shaping what, if anything, gets done in a divided capital. With Johnson out of the running, the choice now looks like Jordan, the fighter, or Scalise, the operator.
JBizNews Desk | Washington
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