Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, left, and Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., confer during a news conference at the Capitol on June 8, 2022. The two GOP leaders are competing to replace Mike Johnson as the top House Republican.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
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J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Just a week after losing the majority in the midterm elections, House Republicans will meet behind closed doors Tuesday to choose a minority leader for the next Congress.
The choice to succeed Mike Johnson, R-La., as the first Republican in the House will be between current House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, co-founder of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.
The election — which will be conducted by secret ballot — represents a high-stakes decision for the party that will help determine the direction it takes as it seeks to regroup after a stunning defeat that saw Democrats flip more than 40 GOP seats en route to regaining the majority.
“I think what unfolds here will become a broader external conversation about the direction of the Republican Party,” said former House Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, who held the gavel in an acting role during the tumultuous 2023 GOP presidential fight.
The Republicans say they are ready to turn the page on their losses and begin reconstruction to regain the confidence of voters. But they will first have to decide between two candidates who would bring very different leadership styles.
In Scalise, 61, House Republicans would choose some form of continuity — the No. 2 House Republican since 2023 and someone who has held broader GOP leadership positions for more than 10 years. He is considered more moderate than Jordan, and in a letter to colleagues announcing his candidacy, the close Trump ally said his approach to the job would be “conservative and consensus-driven.”
“My number one goal as Republican leader will be to win back the majority and I expect you to hold me accountable for that mission,” Scalise wrote. “To succeed, we will need to be effective in both the oversight and legislative fights ahead, but we will also need to present a clear and optimistic vision for America.”
“We have big tasks to accomplish and proven leadership is needed more than ever,” he added.
In Jordan, 62, Republicans would choose a veteran of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees — two panels poised to play a central role in the new Congress as Democrats plan a long list of investigations into President Trump and his administration.
A former college wrestling coach known for his pugilistic style, Jordan took an aggressive stance toward his colleagues, writing that “offense, not defense, wins elections.”
“For too long, we have operated without a clear plan to survive the hour or day before us. That will not be enough to confront an emboldened and energized Democratic Party,” Jordan said in his letter to colleagues, lashing out at the House leadership team led by Johnson and Scalise.
“I’m tested on the control front and I know the Democrats’ playbook,” he added.
The contest is a rematch from 2023. At the time, Jordan and Scalise were vying to succeed Kevin McCarthy. After several candidates failed to gain enough votes, Republicans ultimately voted for Johnson.
Leslie Shedd, a Republican strategist, said candidates will have to go through a process that can amount to “family-on-family violence.”
“It’s really important…to lay out a very clear and substantive vision of how they plan to take this conference out of what is now a desert,” she said.
John Leganski, who was an aide to McCarthy, the former House speaker, estimates that more than 70 percent of the members of the new House Republican conference were elected after Trump won his first term. As a result, they were largely made in her image or won thanks to her.
This means that Trump could exert a major influence on the direction of the Republican conference in the House of Representatives. So far, he remains out of the race, even though he backed Jordan in 2023.
Leganski said the magnitude of Democrats’ victory last week would limit Republican influence under the eventual House minority leader when the new Congress is in session in January.
“I think whoever wins your position will have to… first of all, try to win back the House,” he said. “And second, make life as difficult as possible for Democrats, largely by voting no.”
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