Minority Leader Race: Fight for a Job with No Agenda and One Mission - Defending Trump Speaker Mike Johnson told his staff he would not seek the minority leader post after Republicans lost the House in the midterms, a decision that spares him an ugly fight, but also closes the book on a speaker defined more by survival than achievement. His tenure has been rocky from the start: He was inaugurated in 2023 with little leadership experience, then spent two years running a razor-thin majority that repeatedly threatened to unravel over government funding, the Iran war and lawsuits from his hard-right wing and vulnerable moderates. Johnson himself described the work in terms bordering on admission -. "We have this joke that I'm not really the speaker of the house," he said on the podcast, adding that his life was "in triage every day" and that he hadn't taken a vacation in two years. Critics of his convention accused him of being overly deferential to Trump and reactive rather than strategic. Even Trump reportedly joked, "I'm the speaker and the president." The succession battle now pits two familiar figures against each other. Steve Scalise announced to colleagues that he intends to run, presenting himself as a "proven and experienced leader" whose ultimate goal is to restore the Republican majority. Jim Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is also expected to launch a proposal, and position himself as a warrior built for heavy warfare in the investigations that await the minority. Jordan has spent years softening his image as a bomb-thrower and campaigning for moderates who once opposed him, and he has a structural advantage: Winning the minority leader requires only a majority of the party's convention, not the full House. Sklice, on the other hand, has deep fundraising networks and years of goodwill, but he carries the burden of being part of the leadership team that presided over the midterm loss.

Minority Leader Race: Fight for a Job with No Agenda and One Mission - Defending Trump Speaker Mike Johnson told his staff he would not seek the minority leader post after Republicans lost the House in the midterms, a decision that spares him an ugly fight, but also closes the book on a speaker defined more by survival than achievement. His tenure has been rocky from the start: He was inaugurated in 2023 with little leadership experience, then spent two years running a razor-thin majority that repeatedly threatened to unravel over government funding, the Iran war and lawsuits from his hard-right wing and vulnerable moderates. Johnson himself described the work in terms bordering on admission -. "We have this joke that I'm not really the speaker of the house," he said on the podcast, adding that his life was "in triage every day" and that he hadn't taken a vacation in two years. Critics of his convention accused him of being overly deferential to Trump and reactive rather than strategic. Even Trump reportedly joked, "I'm the speaker and the president." The succession battle now pits two familiar figures against each other. Steve Scalise announced to colleagues that he intends to run, presenting himself as a "proven and experienced leader" whose ultimate goal is to restore the Republican majority. Jim Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is also expected to launch a proposal, and position himself as a warrior built for heavy warfare in the investigations that await the minority. Jordan has spent years softening his image as a bomb-thrower and campaigning for moderates who once opposed him, and he has a structural advantage: Winning the minority leader requires only a majority of the party's convention, not the full House. Sklice, on the other hand, has deep fundraising networks and years of goodwill, but he carries the burden of being part of the leadership team that presided over the midterm loss.