Jim Jordan Elected as New House Republican Leader

Minority leaders must only secure a simple majority within their own party’s House membership. To become Speaker of the House, meanwhile, a candidate must secure the backing of a majority of all those voting in the full lower chamber.

Both Scalise and Jordan previously ran for Speaker in 2023 after Kevin McCarthy became the first person holding the position to be ousted by a House vote. 

Scalise originally secured the House Republican conference’s nomination for the role at the time, beating Jordan, but later withdrew after failing to get enough support for a successful full House vote. Jordan, whose bid had been endorsed by Trump, then became the conference’s nominee, but he also failed to garner the needed backing on the House floor after three votes. Republicans ultimately rallied around Johnson, who gained both Scalise and Johnson’s votes en route to securing the position. 

Johnson, who won reelection in Louisiana’s Fourth District last week, said a day after Election Day that “while the outcome of this midterm is not what we’d hoped and fought for, a new battle is just beginning,” in a post on X.