House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) declined to commit to serving out his full term in the 120th Congress after Democrats swept up control of both chambers in the midterm elections.
Johnson had already ruled out seeking minority leadership last week, but in his first remarks since Nov. 3, the speaker was asked about his plans after the new Congress is sworn in.
“We’re focused on finishing the 119th strong,” Johnson said. “We’re going to do that. I’m still in charge here till early January, and we’re going to do our duty. And after that, my commitment and my objective is to help my team ensure that the Republican Party has a very successful 120th Congress, and we’ll see how all that develops.”
If Johnson were not to serve out his full term in the next House, the move would not be unprecedented, as former Rep. Dennis Hastert made a similar move in 2007, resigning halfway through his 11th term.
Johnson touched on his decision to not seek minority leadership, noting that Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is the only person in recent history to stay at the helm of a party after losing control of Congress.
“I just didn’t feel after a lot of prayer and reflection, I didn’t feel like that was the best thing for me to do,” Johnson said of his stepping down as GOP leader.
Regarding Republicans’ leader in the next Congress, Johnson voiced optimism about his party’s options. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) both have their eyes on the speaker’s gavel, and leadership elections are set to take place Tuesday.
“We have two extraordinary guys that are running to lead the conference, and I’m close to both of them, and we’ll see how that shakes out,” Johnson said.
Johnson also offered up reflection on how Republicans performed in the midterm elections, characterizing his campaigning efforts as him having “left it all out on the field.”
While upset with the overall loss, Johnson pointed much of his frustration at polling, which painted a much different picture than the actual results, with Democrats winning by a wider margin than projected.
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“They were off all over the place,” he said. “No one, no one, none of you projected the final outcome. The polls were wildly inaccurate.”
Johnson first won the speaker’s gavel in 2023 after Republicans ousted former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and failed to coalesce around a new leader on several ballot votes, leading to a weekslong standoff among conference members.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
