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Republicans Elect Leaders for a Congress With Less Room to Lead

November 11, 2026 at 6:01 AM EST · New York time

House Republicans elected Jim Jordan as their next leader, while Senate Republicans selected John Thune. Jordan defeated Steve Scalise for the House post after Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not seek the minority leadership. The choices prepare the party for a Congress in which Republicans will be in the minority. Jordan, an Ohio Republican and close ally of President Trump, will lead a caucus that can no longer count on controlling the House agenda. A minority leader still has a large job: keeping members together, negotiating with the majority and presenting the party's priorities. The part of the job involving a reliable majority has been removed from the package. The Senate has its own rules and leadership, so the two selections do not create a single congressional command center. They do identify the Republicans charged with organizing their colleagues across both chambers as the balance of power changes. The transition also changes the arithmetic behind the speeches. A party can announce an ambitious agenda, but a minority must find support outside its own ranks to get much of it enacted. It can object and bargain, too, though neither is quite as simple as setting the calendar. The new leaders inherit familiar desks and a distinctly less cooperative spreadsheet.

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