After Tuesday’s election massacre, the House Republican Conference is in chaos and it’s now an open question of who will lead it in the next Congress.
Next Tuesday, House Republicans will decide who will take the reins in the top two leadership spots. Speaker Mike Johnson informed his staff on Wednesday morning that he does not plan to run for the top Republican spot again, clearing the way for a rematch between House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for minority leader, the two announced candidates in the race.
Both men had begun laying the groundwork for their respective runs ahead of the midterms but both lost many of their key allies to Tuesday’s blue tsunami, leaving the race without a clear frontrunner.
The No. 2 spot to be the minority whip looked to be House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s for the taking. Going into Tuesday night the consensus among members was that Emmer (R-Minnesota) wouldn’t have a challenger unless the night went very badly.
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And it went very badly.
Almost immediately on Wednesday morning, Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) released a dear colleague announcing his intentions to run for whip against Emmer, who also announced his bid.
This year’s leadership election will focus on two key questions: Who does the conference trust to lead them in the minority and who will be able to pick up the pieces to deliver a majority in 2028?
Scalise bested Jordan in 2023 on a private ballot for speaker during the drawn out fight following then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster — in the end neither could get the 218 votes necessary to become speaker. Then, it was a snap election while Republicans were actively in the majority. This year, Republicans will be voting with the midterm blowout still fresh on their minds.
Both Scalise and Jordan released “Dear Colleague” letters on Wednesday to make their case.
Scalise emphasized that he has a history of leading and already has the political infrastructure in place to help retake the majority in 2028.
“My number one goal as Republican Leader will be to win back the majority and I expect you to hold me accountable to that mission,” he said in the letter. “To succeed, we will need to be effective in both the oversight and legislative fights ahead, but we will also need to lay out a clear and optimistic vision for America.”
Jordan talked up his prowess for combatting Democratic investigations, which are inevitable next Congress.
“Democrats have already signaled their true intentions. Each Democrat-led committee will turn their full attention to investigating every facet of the administration and private entities across the country,” Jordan said. “I am battle-tested on the oversight front and I know the Democrats’ playbook. I know what it will take to lead our conference in the minority, to stay unified, and to coordinate and calibrate our response to the democrats’ tactics. We need a leadership team that is active and engaged, forward-thinking and straight-shooting.”
The two have been working the phones calling members pitching themselves for the position, sources say.
Those close to Scalise argue that he should lead the conference because of his track record dating back more than a decade in helping elect and recruit Republicans to run.
Those close to Jordan and others in the conference argue that after Tuesday’s gargantuan losses there should be a complete repudiation of current leadership.
Emmer and his team have spent most of the day Wednesday making calls to members pitching why he should remain as whip.
Part of that pitch includes how he helped take back the majority as National Republican Congressional Committee chair in 2020 and 2022 following the 2018 wipeout, a source told The Washington Sun.
In a dear colleague letter, Emmer emphasized this point.
“When I took over the NRCC in 2019, we needed to change. We needed to install a winning culture. In 2020, we were expected to lose up to 24 seats,” Emmer said in the letter. “We fought tooth and nail, and gained a historic 15 seats, nearly flipping the House in a presidential year. In 2022, we finished the job. We’ve taken on the tough fights as a team, and won. We must return to that same mindset to retake the majority in two years.”
He added that if reelected as whip he would “continue to be direct, honest, and transparent. We have never made false promises or tried to buy your votes. My role is to support every Member of this conference and help you succeed. Success will feel different in the minority-and often less satisfying-but will require no less support and unity in our conference.”
His opponent, Pfluger, is taking a path similar to Jordan and hoping to ride the wave of anti-leadership sentiment in his bid to unseat Emmer.
“It is time to regroup, recharge, and fully unify,” Pfluger said in his letter. “We need fresh ideas and a leadership team committed to rebuilding a culture with a clear game plan to win in 2028. I’m running for Republican Whip because I believe that I am capable and can be trusted to implement the changes this team needs.”
As for the members who will be voting on these positions, it’s the current GOP leadership who they think is in the hot seat.
“I would hate to be a member of current leadership,” one senior GOP member told The Sun on Tuesday night.
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