Speaker Johnson won't seek reelection as House Republican leader after party's midterm losses

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson will be stepping aside from Republican Party leadership after Republican losses in the midterm election, declining to seek support to stay on as House minority leader in the new Congress, according to two people familiar with his decision Wednesday.

Johnson is expected to retain his seat as a rank-and-file member of the House from Louisiana when Congress convenes in January. He won reelection from his Shreveport-area district for a sixth term in office.

Johnson became speaker after several other Republican candidates failed to secure enough support in 2023 and later developed a close relationship with President Donald Trump. He led the House GOP during a period when Republicans held one of the slimmest majorities in modern times.

His decision sets up an internal party contest for the new GOP leader after Democrats won control of the House.

Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the House majority leader, is running for the leadership post, according to a person familiar with his plans. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio sent a letter to colleagues describing himself as “battle-tested” as he announced his bid for the job.

House Republicans are expected to elect their new leader when members-elect gather in Washington next week, in what could be another contest between Scalise and Jordan, who both sought the top post in 2023 before Johnson emerged as the consensus candidate.

The people who told The Associated Press about Johnson’s and Scalise's decisions insisted on anonymity to disclose them.

Johnson had predicted Republicans would defy the historical tendency for the president’s party to lose seats in midterm elections. Instead, Democrats won the House majority, leaving Johnson without the support needed to remain speaker.

The speaker’s gavel is now expected to pass to Democrats, who are preparing to nominate House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York for the job, second in line to the president. The House speaker’s election is among the first votes of the new Congress, on Jan. 3, 2027.

Johnson first won the speaker's gavel in 2023 after his colleagues ousted the previous GOP speaker, Kevin McCarthy of California, in a first-of-its-kind removal of a House speaker.

A lower-level member of House leadership, Johnson emerged as the consensus candidate after Republican colleagues could not agree on a successor to McCarthy. Once in office, Johnson developed a close relationship with Trump and has described their almost daily phone calls and conversations.

Johnson led passage of the GOP's signature package of tax breaks and social services cuts that Trump signed into law. He also used his authority as speaker to prevent votes opposed by the president and his administration.

Johnson's decision sets up another potential leadership contest between the House GOP's conservative factions.

Scalise has long courted backing from the House GOP's conservative wing, particularly business and energy sector lawmakers. Jordan, a former wrestler who chairs the Judiciary Committee, has long been preferred by some of the party’s most conservative members, including some from the Freedom Caucus.

Both Scalise and Jordan tried for the speaker's gavel once McCarthy was forced aside in 2023, but they failed to win majority support from their colleagues, splitting the votes. At the time, Johnson emerged as the consensus candidate and became the House speaker.