Speaker Mike Johnson to step aside as top House Republican in next Congress

After a bruising defeat for Republicans in Tuesday's midterm elections, House Speaker Mike Johnson will not stay on as Republican leader in the new Congress. The information comes from a source familiar with his plans who was not authorised to discuss them publicly.

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, served two terms as speaker. He was elected speaker after his predecessor, California Representative Kevin McCarthy, was ousted in 2023.

Johnson's decision will open the top House leadership position in the minority. Republicans are scheduled to hold their leadership elections on November 10.

Historically, the president's party loses seats in midterm elections. This time the Democratic wave went beyond the expectations of many in Washington, flipping seats in traditionally Republican states that the president had previously won.

In remarks on Tuesday night, Johnson pointed to that history. He said, "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. 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. There's a lot of reasons for it. It's very, very difficult to overcome, and it looks like history will be kept tonight."

As speaker, Johnson worked closely with the Trump administration. He had to maintain the balancing act of keeping his conference united with an extremely narrow majority, where even one Republican defection could put the party's priorities at risk.

The presumptive next House Speaker is Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York. While a handful of lawmakers elected with support from the Democratic Socialists of America are eager to push the party further to the left, Jeffries' comfortable margin means he will likely be able to achieve his priorities even with defections.

If Jeffries becomes speaker, it would be historic — he would be the first Black lawmaker elected to the position.