WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson will not run to lead House Republicans in the new Congress, he announced on Wednesday, one day after Republicans lost the House in the midterm elections, according to the Associated Press and USA Today.
Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, told his staff of the decision on a call on Wednesday morning and set it out in a letter to colleagues. He is not leaving Congress: voters in Louisiana’s 4th District re-elected him on Tuesday with about 58 percent of the vote in a five-candidate field, according to unofficial returns reported by local media. What he is giving up is the leadership job itself. Democrats will hold the majority when the new Congress convenes in January, and Johnson will not seek to lead Republicans in the minority.
A family decision, he says
In his letter, Johnson said leadership had demanded “significant sacrifices” from his family and that, after three years as speaker, “the time has come for me to give them more of the attention and presence they so richly deserve,” according to Axios reporting cited by USA Today. The letter did not mention the election defeat. In a statement posted overnight, Johnson acknowledged the result and vowed to fight on, writing that Republicans would “never stop fighting” and promising that “come 2028, we WILL take back the House.”
Johnson took over as speaker in late 2023, after House Republicans removed Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California and spent weeks deadlocked before settling on Johnson, then a little-known lawmaker, as their compromise choice. He went on to lead the House through one of the slimmest majorities in its history.
The race to succeed him
The contest to succeed Johnson opened immediately. Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio both announced bids on Wednesday to become the party’s next leader, according to Bloomberg Government and the Daily Caller. House Republicans are scheduled to hold their leadership elections on November 10, with candidates asked to declare by November 6.
Scalise and Jordan both ran for speaker in 2023 after McCarthy was removed, and neither won the job then. President Donald Trump told reporters he would stay out of the contest and said he did not ask Johnson to step down, according to USA Today. On the Democratic side, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York is in line to become speaker in January.
What happens next
Johnson remains speaker until the new House is sworn in in January. Whether he serves his full new two-year term as an ordinary member, or leaves early as some former speakers have done, is not yet clear, according to reporting by NBC News cited in U.S. coverage.
Read the USA Today report: Speaker Mike Johnson won’t seek House leadership role after GOP losses.
