House Republicans elect Jim Jordan as their minority leader, beating Steve Scalise 106 to 73
House Republicans chose Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio as their minority leader for the next Congress on Tuesday, a week after losing their majority in the midterm elections. In a secret ballot behind closed doors, Jordan defeated Majority Leader Steve Scalise by 106 votes to 73, according to multiple reports from inside the room. He succeeds Speaker Mike Johnson, who had said he would not seek the minority leader's post; Johnson remains speaker until the new Congress is sworn in on 3 January.
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Key points
- Jim Jordan will lead House Republicans in the next Congress after winning the conference's secret ballot on Tuesday.
- The tally was 106 to 73 over Majority Leader Steve Scalise, according to multiple reports from inside the room.
- Speaker Mike Johnson, who said on 4 November he would not seek the post, stays speaker until the new Congress is sworn in on 3 January.
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- Tom Emmer held off August Pfluger 103 to 76 to become minority whip, the Wall Street Journal reports.
What happened
The leadership vote is the Republican conference's first decision since last week's midterms ended its House majority — Democrats will hold at least 255 seats to at least 166 for Republicans in the new Congress, with some races still uncalled, according to the Associated Press count reported on Tuesday. The minority leader is chosen by the party conference alone, in a single secret ballot.
Jordan, a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, had twice fallen short in bids for the House's top posts — for minority leader in 2018 and for speaker in 2023, when Scalise first beat him for the conference's nomination before Johnson emerged. This time he ran against the sitting leadership, arguing it bore responsibility for the midterm defeat.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That Jordan won the conference vote on Tuesday and succeeds Johnson as the party's House leader in the next Congress, with Emmer as whip.
- That Johnson remains speaker until 3 January, when the Democratic majority is sworn in.
What we don't know yet
- The remaining down-ballot conference posts, which were also being decided on Tuesday — no full slate has been published in the reporting read.
- Jordan's own programme for the minority — he declined to discuss the closed-door meeting with reporters beyond saying the candidate forum went well.
Claim by claim
Show all claims (4)
Why this label: The result is reported in the same terms by the Guardian, Anadolu, the Wall Street Journal, Fox News and the Washington Examiner. The vote was held behind closed doors, so the tally rests on accounts from people in the room carried by those outlets.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The 106–73 tally is given identically by the Wall Street Journal, Fox News and the Washington Examiner, each citing people in the room. House Republicans have not published the tally themselves in the reporting read.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Johnson's decision and the January handover are reported by the Guardian, the Wall Street Journal and People, the last citing the New York Times' report of the result.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The whip tally is reported by the Wall Street Journal from the same closed-door ballot; it rests on the same in-room sourcing as the leader tally.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why it matters
The minority leader sets the opposition's strategy for the next two years: how hard House Republicans fight the Democratic majority's programme and the investigations expected into the Trump administration, and who leads the party into the 2028 cycle. Choosing the conference's most combative figure, over its sitting No. 2, is the party's first statement about what kind of opposition it intends to be.
Background
Johnson tells colleagues he will not run for minority leader after the midterm losses; Jordan and Scalise contest the post.
The conference votes behind closed doors: Jordan beats Scalise 106 to 73, and Emmer beats Pfluger 103 to 76 for whip.
The new Congress is sworn in; Democrats take control of the House and Jordan becomes minority leader in office.
Update history
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Published in Checking state — the result and the tally are reported consistently across outlets, and the full leadership slate and Jordan's programme are still to come.