Key facts
- Speaker Mike Johnson told staff on a call Wednesday he would not run for minority leader
- House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan are positioned for the top post
- August Pfluger is challenging Tom Emmer for whip; Erin Houchin and Greg Steube are challenging Lisa McClain
- Trump told reporters on Wednesday he would stay out of the race to pick a new House Republican leader
- Rep. Don Bacon characterized the 2026 midterms as a referendum on President Trump
- Rep. Anna Paulina Luna accused House GOP leadership of blocking her stock trading ban and other efforts
House Republicans are divided over how to move forward after losing their majority in the November 2026 midterms, with some calling for an overhaul of the current leadership team and others arguing that President Trump bears much of the blame.
Speaker Mike Johnson told staff on a call Wednesday that he would not run for minority leader, setting up a contest between House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan for the top post. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain are seeking to retain their positions, but Emmer faces a challenge from Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger, while Reps. Erin Houchin and Greg Steube are challenging McClain.
Some conservatives say new leaders are needed. "I think if we send up the same leadership team that led us to the slaughter, we will look like clowns," a GOP lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Hill. A second GOP lawmaker said, "We need all new leadership, top to bottom." Rep. Anna Paulina Luna wrote on X, "Let the reckoning begin," accusing the leadership team of fighting her efforts to advance a ban on stock trading, permanently prohibit central bank digital currency and reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Jordan has emerged as a favorite among some House Republicans. "I think we're going into a wartime situation where we are going to be the rebel alliance, and we're going to need someone who knows how to fight, and Jim Jordan knows how to do that," the first GOP lawmaker said. Others argue Scalise is better positioned given his current leadership role. A third GOP member, speaking anonymously, said, "Steve is the right guy for the job. Plain and simple."
A fourth GOP lawmaker blamed the president rather than House leaders. "I mean, this is all on the president, and this war," the lawmaker said, also referencing the Epstein files and a war with Iran. Rep. Don Bacon, a centrist who is retiring at the end of his term, characterized the 2026 midterms as a "referendum on President Trump" and said candidates vying to be GOP leader would be as pro-Trump as Johnson was.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he would "stay out of" the race to pick a new House Republican leader after Johnson said he wouldn't run.