Jim Jordan Elected House Republican Minority Leader, Defeating Steve Scalise 106-73 After Midterm Losses
House Republicans on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, elected Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio as their minority leader for the next Congress, choosing one of President Donald Trump's most outspoken allies to lead a shrunken Republican conference into the minority after last week's midterm defeat. Jordan, 62, defeated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana by 106 votes to 73 in a closed-door secret ballot on Capitol Hill.
The vote settles the race for the top Republican job in the House, which opened after Speaker Mike Johnson announced last week that he would step aside from Republican leadership. Jordan will replace Johnson as the party's top figure in the House when Democrats take control of the chamber in January, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is poised to become the first Black speaker in history.
The short answer: On Tuesday, November 10, 2026, House Republicans elected Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio as minority leader for the next Congress, defeating Majority Leader Steve Scalise 106-73 in a secret ballot. Jordan, the House Judiciary Committee chairman and a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, takes over as the top House Republican in January, when Democrats assume control of the chamber after winning last week's midterm elections. Senate Republicans re-elected Sen. John Thune of South Dakota as their leader the same day.
How Jordan Won the Leadership Race
The Associated Press reported that Jordan won a secret-ballot election of Republicans who will serve in the next Congress, with the 106-73 tally confirmed by two Republican lawmakers in the room. Jordan had pitched his colleagues on his experience chairing the Oversight Committee and now the Judiciary Committee, arguing that his record running high-profile investigations would let him combat the flurry of Democratic investigations expected once the new majority takes power.
Jordan is a co-founder of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and served as its first chairman. He has been one of Trump's most loyal defenders in Congress for years, and his election signals that the conference is sticking with the Trump-aligned wing of the party even after a historic midterm defeat. After the vote, Jordan told colleagues: "Over the next two years, House Republicans will fight for American families."
Scalise, who currently serves as the No. 2 House Republican behind Johnson, had the backing of much of the party's establishment wing. But the 106-73 margin was decisive — a 33-vote gap in a conference that will number roughly 179 members in the next Congress. The vote followed a Democratic wave that swept Republicans from power, handing Democrats roughly 260 seats in the House and control of the Senate as well.
The New Republican Leadership Team
Jordan will head a new minority leadership team when the 120th Congress convenes in January. Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota kept the whip job after winning a 103-76 vote, and Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan held off two challengers to keep her leadership post. In the Senate, Republicans re-elected Sen. John Thune of South Dakota as their leader without a challenge; Thune will become minority leader in January after serving as Senate majority leader.
The leadership votes came one week after the midterm elections, in which Democrats flipped both chambers of Congress. Early counts put House Democrats at about 254 seats to the Republicans' 166, with 15 races still undecided at the time of the leadership vote. As covered in our earlier report on the House blocking the Hegseth impeachment push, the outgoing Republican majority has spent the lame-duck session closing ranks around the Trump administration — a posture Jordan's election is likely to continue from the minority.
What Jordan's Election Means for the GOP
Jordan inherits a historically small House Republican conference that is only beginning to grapple with its loss of power as President Donald Trump serves out his final two years in office. The party lost the House and the Senate in the same election, and its new leaders must decide how to oppose a Democratic majority that has promised investigations into the Trump administration — including the war with Iran, the boat-strike campaign, and the administration's handling of the economy.
For Democrats, the leadership change is part of a wider reshuffle. Jeffries, who had called himself a "hard yes" on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is set to take the speaker's gavel in January. As covered in our earlier report on Jeffries backing the Hegseth impeachment effort, the incoming Democratic leadership has already signaled it will use its new majority aggressively — and Jordan's job will be to organize the Republican response.
The choice of Jordan also matters for the politics of the next two years. As the top House Republican, he will be the party's most visible counterweight to the Democratic speaker, its chief negotiator in any bipartisan talks, and the public face of Republican opposition to Democratic investigations. His allies say his combative style is exactly what the moment demands; his critics within the party had argued that a more conciliatory leader would serve a minority conference better. On Tuesday, the conference chose the fighter. Follow the latest developments in Washington here as the lame-duck session continues.
Why Democrats' January Takeover Shapes the Job
Democrats take control of both the House and the Senate at noon Eastern on January 3, 2027. Until then, the lame-duck Republican majority continues to govern — and this week it demonstrated that discipline, voting 211-204 to kill the impeachment push against Hegseth. But from January, Jordan's conference will be in the minority, with no power to set the House agenda, call votes, or block Democratic subpoenas.
That makes the minority leader's role largely about messaging, oversight of the majority, and holding the conference together through two years of Democratic rule. Jordan's background — leading the Freedom Caucus, chairing Oversight and Judiciary, and serving as Trump's most prominent defender in the House — is the profile the conference chose for that fight. As covered in our report on Massie forcing the House vote on Hegseth, the party's internal debates over the war in Iran and the administration's direction are far from settled — and Jordan will have to manage them from the minority.
The leadership election also closes a chapter on the Johnson era. Johnson, who became speaker in October 2023, announced the day after the midterm elections that he would leave the leadership team, opening the top Republican job for the first time in three years. Jordan's victory ends a contest the two men had fought before — Jordan challenged for the speakership in 2023 and lost — and puts him, at 62, at the top of the House Republican ladder for the first time.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the House Republican leadership election?
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio won the election on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. He defeated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana in a secret ballot to become House Republican leader — the minority leader — for the next Congress.
What was the vote count in the Jordan-Scalise race?
Jordan defeated Scalise 106-73 in a closed-door secret ballot of Republicans who will serve in the next Congress, according to the Associated Press and two Republican lawmakers in the room. The 33-vote margin was decisive in a conference that will number roughly 179 members.
When does Jim Jordan take over as House minority leader?
Jordan takes over as the top House Republican when the 120th Congress convenes and Democrats take control of the chamber in January 2027. Democrats assume control of the House and Senate at noon Eastern on January 3, 2027, and Jordan will serve as minority leader for the next two years.
Why is the House Republican leadership changing now?
Republicans lost control of the House and Senate in last week's midterm elections, in which Democrats won roughly 260 House seats. Speaker Mike Johnson announced the day after the election that he would step aside from Republican leadership, opening the top Republican job for the first time in three years.
Who else was elected to the Republican leadership team?
Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota kept the whip job after winning a 103-76 vote, and Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan held off two challengers to keep her leadership post. In the Senate, Republicans re-elected Sen. John Thune of South Dakota as their leader without a challenge; he becomes minority leader in January.
What does Jordan's election mean for Democratic investigations?
Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee and previously chaired Oversight, pitched colleagues on using his investigative experience to combat the Democratic investigations expected once the new majority takes power in January. As minority leader, he will organize the Republican response to Democratic oversight of the Trump administration, including investigations into the war in Iran and the boat-strike campaign.
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