House Speaker Mike Johnson will not try to lead Republicans in the next Congress, stepping back one day after a midterm wave handed Democrats a wide House majority.

Johnson broke the news to staff on a call Wednesday morning and followed up with a letter to fellow Republicans. The Louisiana lawmaker pointed to the toll the job has taken on his family. He won a new term in his Shreveport-area district Tuesday and plans to stay in the House as a rank and file member.

A two man race

The opening did not last long. By Wednesday afternoon, Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio had both told colleagues they want to become the next Republican leader.

Scalise sent a five page letter promising that his top goal would be winning back the majority. He argued that seasoned leadership matters more than ever as Democrats prepare to push their own agenda and open a wave of investigations.

Jordan made his pitch in a shorter letter that called the moment a staggering day for the conference. He said Republicans have spent too long without a real plan and pitched himself as the member best suited to fight back against Democratic oversight, which he expects to be aggressive.

House Republicans are set to pick their new leaders on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Races for the lower rungs of the leadership ladder are also taking shape.

How he got here

Johnson was a little known member when Republicans chose him as speaker in October 2023. He was the party's fourth pick after weeks of turmoil that followed the removal of Kevin McCarthy. Scalise and Jordan were both among the candidates who could not lock down enough votes at the time. Republicans gave Johnson the gavel again in 2025.

He had said as recently as October that he planned to stay on as leader even in the minority. He also once mused that he might go home to Shreveport and start a lawn business if the party lost the House.

Speaking in his hometown on election night, Johnson called his time as the 56th speaker the honor of his life and said it was a role he never set out to hold. Democrat Hakeem Jeffries is expected to take the gavel when the new Congress begins in January.