House Speaker Mike Johnson won’t stay on as Republican leader after GOP losses

WASHINGTON — A day after Democrats captured the House majority, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told his staff Wednesday morning he will not stay on as Republican leader in the new Congress, according to four sources on the phone call. His announcement follows massive losses for his party in House races Tuesday. Johnson’s departure will leave open the position of House minority leader. Republicans are scheduled to hold an internal election to select their candidate for the position Nov. 10. Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who is the No. 2 GOP leader, a close Johnson ally and a fellow Louisiana Republican, announced his bid for minority leader in a letter to GOP colleagues Wednesday.

He became a national figure after he survived an assassination attempt during the 2017 congressional baseball game shooting. “Last night’s election was far worse than any of us expected. We fought hard and left it all on the field, but clearly, we were unable to defy history,” Scalise wrote to his colleagues. “This is no doubt a challenging time for our conference, but overcoming adversity is nothing new to me,” he said. “We will need to be honest with ourselves about what happened, but it is more important now than ever for us to emerge from this stronger and united because the stakes couldn’t be higher.” Judiciary Committee