'Instead of standing firm on our principles, you have governed out of fear,' Rep. Steube told Republican leadership.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced to his staff Wednesday morning that he would not stay on as the Republican leader in the upcoming Democrat-controlled House, but his successor cannot be an establishment leadership lackey whom party power brokers believe is "next in line."
This is the right move. Decent and humble resignation. John Thune should follow suit, but he won’t. https://t.co/E6Xv0pmVym
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) November 4, 2026
Democrats won enough trifectas last night to theoretically obtain an absolute majority of the electoral college for the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, and they certainly have Congressional majorities large enough to authorize such a compact.
— Christian Heiens 🏛 (@ChristianHeiens) November 4, 2026
The only question is… https://t.co/xkELIUSIGm
Johnson did not make clear whether he would leave office entirely or remain a member of Congress outside of leadership, according to Politico, but House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, quickly threw their hats in the ring.
Jim Jordan sents a letter to his colleagues making his bid for minority leader official.
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) November 4, 2026
He calls Tuesday's results "staggering."
"In these next two years, our jobs cannot be to merely spotlight how radical this new Democrat party is – offense, not defense, wins elections,"… pic.twitter.com/W4sXLeaRie
"This is a staggering day for our Conference," Jordan said. "In these next two years, our jobs cannot be to merely spotlight how radical this new Democrat party is – offense, not defense, wins elections. … For too long, we have operated without a clear plan to survive the hour or the day in front of us. That will not cut it against an emboldened and energetic Democrat majority."
Scalise, on the other hand, is already a member of leadership and is planning to use that fact as the pitch to his Republican colleagues as a "proven and tested leader."
🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 4, 2026
REP. AUGUST PFLUGER is running against House Majority Whip TOM EMMER for GOP whip, the No. 2 slot in the House Republican minority leadership.
Pfluger is the outgoing chair of the RSC.
Text subscribers had it first.
But all the jostling at the top, perhaps with the exceptions of Jordan and Pfluger, looks to be the same kind of trap Republicans have consistently found themselves in for years: They reward leadership positions to those in leadership, or those who have kept their heads down enough to make it into leadership. It is how the "young guns" of the GOP of 2013 — McCarthy, former Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and former Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va. — came to power even during the Tea Party insurgency.
But who could say those "young guns" did anything differently than former Speaker John Boehner?
Outside House leadership, Republicans do the same thing. In 2008, it was John McCain's "turn" to be the presidential nominee, and so he was. There was no regard for young talent who may not have had decades in office bronzing themselves into the D.C. establishment. McCain was well liked by the party, and by leadership, and no Republican was going to stand in the way of his candidacy. Mitt Romney was essentially coronated by the establishment, too.
This trap is how Republicans can hold a governing trifecta for two years and squander it completely, passing nearly no meaningful legislation like the SAVE America Act. Republican leadership does not have a Lyndon Johnson-style "indomitable will" to force members to make tough choices or be primaried for their failure, there is only herding cats and failure theater.
As Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., observed in a letter to Republican House and Senate "Leadership," which he put in scare quotes, "No, the polls were not wrong. You were. Even with record amounts of money at your disposal, you managed to get absolutely annihilated. You have been embarrassingly weak and more afraid of governing conservatively than of disappointing the voters who put us in office."
"Instead of standing firm on our principles, you have governed out of fear, continually knelt to the moderates in our conference (who all got crushed last night anyway), and discarded conservatives like me who warned of last night's results," he continued. "Please do us all a favor and step aside so new leadership can take a truly conservative direction, with the courage to do the things we were elected to do."
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