Mike Johnson will not seek to lead House Republicans as minority leader in the next Congress, according to reports citing people familiar with his decision. He told staffers during a call Wednesday morning, one day after the midterm elections.
CBS News reported the announcement, which was separately confirmed by a source cited by the Associated Press. Johnson has not publicly confirmed the decision in a statement.
The move comes as Democrats are projected to take control of the House in January. Republicans plan to hold their internal leadership elections on Nov. 10, according to a GOP aide familiar with the schedule. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan have been mentioned as possible contenders for the party’s top role.
Johnson’s decision differs from what he said in October, when he told CBS News he intended to remain the party’s leader if Republicans lost the House majority. In an Oct. 8 interview with Fox News, he also said he was open to returning to Shreveport, Louisiana, and starting a lawn business if Republicans lost control. He framed that as a possibility, not an announcement that he planned to leave Congress.
Johnson became speaker in October 2023 after Kevin McCarthy was removed from the post. He was the fourth Republican nominee for speaker after Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan and Tom Emmer failed to secure enough support. Republicans reelected Johnson as speaker in 2025.
In remarks from Shreveport on Tuesday night, Johnson called serving as the 56th speaker of the House “the honor of my life.”