Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio has been elected to lead House Republicans in the next Congress, defeating House Majority Leader Steve Scalise by 106 votes to 73 in a secret ballot on Tuesday 10 November 2026. Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, will become the top House Republican when Democrats take control of the chamber in January.

The vote came one week after Republicans lost their House majority in the midterm elections, with Democrats flipping more than 40 Republican seats. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who did not seek the minority leader post, remains speaker in the current Congress. Jordan, 62, succeeds Johnson as the chamber's leading Republican.

A 106-73 secret ballot

The election was held in a closed-door meeting of Republicans who will serve in the incoming Congress, and the ballot was secret. Jordan, a co-founder of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and its first chairman, has represented Ohio's 4th congressional district since 2007. His candidacy appealed to members looking for new leadership after the election defeat and to those who favour his hard-hitting political style.

The contest was Jordan's third attempt at the party's top House job. He and Scalise previously faced each other in the 2023 race for speaker after the ousting of Kevin McCarthy, when Scalise defeated Jordan by 113 votes to 99 in the conference vote, although neither man went on to claim the gavel. House Republicans also voted to keep Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota as their whip in the next Congress.

What the job means in the new Congress

Jordan will lead a diminished Republican conference into the minority for the last two years of President Donald Trump's term. He has warned of Democratic oversight efforts, with numerous investigations of the Trump administration expected once the new Congress sits in January.

The result settles who will speak for House Republicans as the party rebuilds after its midterm losses. As minority leader, Jordan will also be the party's nominee for speaker of the House. The vote does not change who runs the House now: Speaker Johnson continues in that role until the current Congress ends, and the new leadership takes over when the 120th Congress convenes in January.