Mike Johnson not running to lead House GOP after historic midterm losses

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., does not plan to lead House Republicans in the next Congress after his razor-thin majority dissolved under a tidal wave of Democrat victories.

Johnson revealed the news on an all-staff call on Wednesday morning, Fox News Digital is told by two sources.

The development comes shortly after it became public that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, will mount a bid to be minority leader next year. It's not immediately clear how far in advance Johnson's call was planned.

The speaker's remarkable rise to power began with his ascension from relative obscurity to win the gavel in October 2023, following the ouster of ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

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Johnson, who only came to Congress in 2017, had won the unanimous backing of his colleagues after three weeks of chaos that paralyzed the legislative branch where the House was leaderless. 

He spent the majority of his time in recent months crisscrossing the country for GOP candidates in a bid to keep his leadership spot.

But those efforts apparently were not enough to stave off significant losses across both battleground districts and seats that were considered Republican strongholds.

Among the most stunning losses projected Tuesday night include Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., Rep. Tim Moore, R-N.C., and Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., is also expected to lose his race despite leading the House GOP campaign arm.

Johnson conceded the House was lost at his election night party in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana on Tuesday night.

"From the first day of this election, we knew that to keep the House and sustain our majority, we would have to defy more than a century of midterm history," Johnson told the audience. "It's only happened twice in 90 years that a sitting president has picked up or held seats for his party in that first two-year cycle, and there's a lot of reasons for it. It's very, very difficult to overcome. And it looks like history will be kept tonight."

The race to lead the House GOP in the minority will now be between Jordan and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., Johnson's No. 2.

Johnson's No. 3, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told colleagues he would be running for the whip job in the minority.