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By Anna Skinner
Associate News Editor
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House Republicans are voting Tuesday on who will lead them in the next Congress, while their Senate counterparts are weighing whether to postpone their leadership elections following sweeping Democratic victories in the midterms.
The leadership elections come amid a somber mood for Republicans after Democrats seized control of both chambers of Congress, reversing the GOP majorities that entered Election Day. Democrats won control of the U.S. Senate and House, with several surprising flips in traditionally Republican states contributing to the result, including Democrat James Talarico's victory in Texas and Democrat Annie Andrews' win in South Carolina.
Republicans scheduled both their House and Senate leadership elections for Tuesday, setting up an early test of how the party responds to its losses and whether members can rally around a unified strategy in the minority. Ahead of the House vote, Representative Nathaniel Moran of Texas stressed that the party needs to be "unified" behind its choice.
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“Whoever we select as our leaders, and we’ve got some great ones up for election today, we have to be unified behind whoever we select,” Moran said.
The vote comes as House Speaker Mike Johnson opted not to seek the minority leader post after Republicans lost control of the House. Two Republicans have emerged as the leading contenders for the position: Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio. Both easily won their midterm re-election campaigns.
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Ahead of the vote, House Republicans appeared split between the two candidates.
Moran said he was “solidly in Steve Scalise’s camp” when speaking to reporters ahead of the vote. U.S. Representative Darrell Issa also spoke to reporters, saying he would back Jordan for the role. Although Issa will not be eligible to vote in the leadership election because he is retiring at the end of his term, his backing of Jordan highlights divisions among House Republicans over the party's future leadership.
“I think it’s time for a change. I think people realize that we’ve had a management team for a period of time that has done a good job, but in light of … what might be a multiple term comeback, a fighter like Jim Jordan represents to a lot of people somebody who in the minority proved that he could help us get back to the majority,” Issa said. “His leadership and experience I think has made him a real candidate even against incumbents.”
What Happens Next
House Republicans are expected to vote Tuesday afternoon on their leadership team for the next Congress. The path forward is less certain in the Senate, where John Thune is running unopposed to remain the chamber’s top Republican. A group of GOP senators, led by Ron Johnson, has pushed to delay the leadership elections to give the conference more time to examine the party’s midterm losses and discuss its strategy going forward. Senate Republicans were expected to reconvene Tuesday afternoon to decide whether to postpone the elections or proceed with the planned vote.
On Monday, President Donald Trump praised Thune and called him a "good man" but said the decision was ultimately up to Senate Republicans. He added that he didn’t know the status of the potential delayed vote, then criticized the Senate for struggling to pass legislation.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Rhian Morgan.
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