Jim Jordan Launches Bid for House Minority Leader After GOP Loses the Majority
House Republicans are headed for a leadership shake-up after losing their majority on Tuesday, and one of President Donald Trump's closest allies in Congress is making his move.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio is running for House minority leader in the next Congress, two sources familiar with his plans told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
The bid puts Jordan at the center of the GOP's post-election leadership fight after Democrats flipped dozens of competitive seats across the country and erased the Republicans' razor-thin majority.
Jordan's path became clearer Wednesday when Speaker Mike Johnson told his staff that he would not seek the minority leader post. That removed a major obstacle and opened the door to a wider reshuffling of the Republican leadership team.
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Jordan vs. Scalise?
Jordan is still expected to face competition. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who has been in GOP leadership since 2014, has been viewed as another possible contender. Scalise has built strong relationships across the conference and is one of its top fundraisers.
Jordan brings a very different profile: a combative committee chairman with close ties to Trump and strong support among grassroots conservatives.
Republican lawmakers had been quietly discussing Jordan as a possible minority leader for weeks as polls showed Democrats could take the House. One GOP lawmaker previously called him the “number one name” for the job if the party lost the majority.
Jordan spent much of August and October crisscrossing the country to campaign for Republican House candidates from different wings of the party. That effort helped him build relationships beyond the House Freedom Caucus, the conservative bloc he has long been tied to.
A Different Race Than 2023
His supporters believe that wider network could be decisive, because the minority leader is chosen internally by Republican members, not by the full House like the speaker.
Jordan learned that lesson the hard way in 2023. After Kevin McCarthy was removed as speaker, Jordan had strong conservative backing but eventually dropped his bid after repeatedly failing to win enough votes on the House floor. Johnson emerged from that weeks-long fight as the consensus pick.
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Much has changed since then. Several Republicans who opposed Jordan in 2023 have either left Congress or faced tough races during Tuesday's Democratic wave. One GOP lawmaker told Fox News before the election that Jordan's chances would improve if the surviving conference became more conservative.
Trump's Defender in the Minority
Losing the majority means Republicans will give up committee gavels and control of subpoenas, investigations and the House schedule when the new Congress convenes. Jordan's Judiciary chairmanship will end too, though he could become the panel's top Republican if he does not win a leadership post.
The minority leader will be especially visible because Democrats have already promised aggressive investigations of the Trump administration. Whoever wins will be one of Trump's most important defenders against subpoenas, probes and possible impeachment efforts, a fight Jordan knows well after years of leading GOP investigations.
Other leadership races are also taking shape. Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota has signaled he wants to stay on as whip, and Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger has been mentioned privately as a possible contender for a future leadership role.