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US Politics · 2026 midterm elections

House Republicans decide between Scalise and Jordan to lead them in the minority

Senate Republicans are also set to vote Tuesday, with Majority Leader John Thune seeking to lead as minority leader and some senators asking for a delay.

The U.S. Capitol in Washington
The U.S. Capitol in Washington. Photo: Architect of the Capitol, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
33 news outlets reported this
Liberal15 outletsA battered GOP picks leaders after a routCenter5 outletsThe two candidates' résumés and the voteConservative13 outletsScalise-Jordan rematch and Republicans' internal jockeying
ABRAnews EditorialPublished 1 min read
Overview

House Republicans meet on Tuesday, Nov. 10, to choose their leader in the minority. The vote follows the Nov. 3 election, in which Democrats won control of both and the . Mike Johnson is not running for minority leader.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio are competing for the job. They also faced off in 2023 after Kevin McCarthy was ousted. MS NOW reports Scalise won that conference vote 113-99, but neither man became speaker.

The vote is by secret ballot and a simple majority of the conference wins. According to NBC News, candidates make their pitches from 9 a.m. ET and the vote follows in the afternoon. Other posts are also contested.

Majority Whip Tom Emmer faces August Pfluger for whip. Conference Chair Lisa McClain faces Greg Steube and Erin Houchin. Senate Republicans are also set to vote in a closed-door election Tuesday.

Majority Leader John Thune is running for minority leader, and NBC News reports nobody has announced a challenge. Sens. David McCormick and Ron Johnson are among those who wanted the vote delayed. Senate Democrats elect their leaders in early December, NBC News reports.

Key figures
  • 113-99Scalise's win over Jordan in the 2023 conference voteMS NOW
  • more than $23 millionraised by Scalise for GOP candidates, per a House GOP aideMS NOW
  • more than $4.5 millionraised by Jordan for Republicans, per a source familiar with his effortsMS NOW
  • 44 public endorsementsfor McClain's conference chair bid, per her officeWashington Examiner
  • 259 seatsHouse seats NBC News projects Democrats will winNBC News

Three sides of the story

15Liberal5Center13Conservative

33 news outlets reported this

Tap a color or swipe sideways to switch sides.

Liberal15 outlets

A battered GOP picks leaders after a rout

NBC News opens with a "blue tidal wave" that leaves House and Senate Republicans to "pick up the pieces." It covers both chambers: Scalise against Jordan, the whip and conference chair contests, and Thune facing grumbling. It quotes Sen. David McCormick saying "Tuesday is too soon" for Senate elections.

NBC also looks at Democrats, where Jeffries and Schumer are favorites and a person familiar with Sen. Chris Van Hollen's thinking says "the door is not shut" on a run for majority leader. MS NOW frames the House race as "continuity and confrontation." It quotes Jordan's letter, "Offense, not defense, wins elections," and Scalise's call to "stand united as one team."

It adds Rep. Carlos Gimenez praising Scalise's experience and Rep. Marlin Stutzman backing Jordan as new blood. PBS NewsHour's live-coverage item names the two candidates after a "brutal drubbing at the polls." Its headline also says the House is expected to hold a preliminary vote on Hegseth.

Center5 outlets

The two candidates' résumés and the vote

UPI leads with the House 's Tuesday choice of Jordan or Scalise as its next leader, once Republicans lose control of the chamber in the next . It says Johnson announced he would not seek to head the party, and Democrats took both chambers in the Nov. 3 election. Citing NBC News and ABC News, it says the vote is expected Tuesday.

It adds that solely incoming members of January's new Congress may vote, while those retiring or ousted may not. It then profiles both men. Scalise has been majority leader since January 2023 and was whip from 2014 until 2023.

Jordan was first elected in 2007 and chairs the Judiciary Committee and its Weaponization subcommittee. The Journal's headline pits the "veteran" Scalise against the "reformed political bomb-thrower"

Jordan. It describes Republicans as "battered" in the new Democratic-run Congress.

Conservative13 outlets

Scalise-Jordan rematch and Republicans' internal jockeying

The Washington Examiner calls the race a rematch of 2023. It quotes Johnson saying he will not tip the scales, a Scalise source saying he has support "all across different factions," and Gimenez on Scalise's network. Stutzman says the party needs "new faces."

The Examiner also reports McClain's 44 public endorsements, according to her office. The New York Post frames a "blue tsunami" and describes both men working the phones. It calls Scalise a "gunshot and cancer survivor" and says Jordan casts himself as a "scrappy outsider."

It adds Senate grumbling, quoting Sen. Ron Johnson: "I'm not going to participate in an election that's held that early." It quotes Thune and says Trump called him a "very fine man." Just the News notes Jordan has never held a leadership post and Scalise is Johnson's No. 2.

It says forums run through the day, with votes in the afternoon.

What a side did not mention
  • Centrist outlets did not mentionSenate Republicans also hold a leadership vote Tuesday, with Thune running for minority leader Reported by NBC News, New York Post
All sources: 40 articles from 33 outlets

Liberal (19)

Center (6)

Conservative (15)

2026 midterm elections
  1. Mississippi's Senate race reaches Tuesday cutoff for mailed and provisional ballots
  2. CNN projects Democrat will beat Rep. Boebert in Colorado, but she won't concede
  3. House Republicans decide between Scalise and Jordan to lead them in the minorityThis story
  4. Sanders says he won't support Schumer as Senate Democratic leader
  5. Senate Republicans reelect Thune as leader and reject a push to delay the vote
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