11NOV

Jim Jordan wins House GOP leader race

2 min read

18:10UTC

House Republicans picked Jim Jordan over Steve Scalise, 106 to 73, while Senate Republicans kept John Thune despite a push from the right to delay his vote.

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Key takeaway

Jim Jordan beat Steve Scalise to lead House Republicans, while John Thune survived a delay motion.

House Republicans, heading into the minority after Democrats won both chambers, elected Jim Jordan, the Ohio congressman, as minority leader on Tuesday 10 November, by 106 votes to 73 over Steve Scalise, the outgoing majority leader, the business network CNBC reported⁠¹. Speaker Mike Johnson had said on 4 November that he would not run. The same day Senate Republicans re-elected John Thune by acclamation, after a motion to delay the vote failed 31-15 on an Axios account attributed to people familiar with it⁠². Senator Ron Johnson backed the delay, CNBC reported.

The right's case against Thune had run since polling night. "Abolish the filibuster, pass the SAVE Act," the activist Mike Cernovich posted⁠³. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register, never got past the filibuster, the Senate rule under which most bills need 60 votes to reach a final vote. Thune declined to scrap that rule, and in January the bill meets a Democratic Senate. House Republicans replaced their leadership after the defeat; Senate Republicans kept theirs.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Each party in Congress elects its own leaders after an election. House Republicans, who lost control of The House, picked Jim Jordan of Ohio to lead them in opposition. The outgoing speaker, Mike Johnson, did not stand. Senate Republicans kept John Thune of South Dakota as their leader. A small group tried to delay that vote and lost. Leaders decide which bills their party fights and which it lets through, so the choice shapes the next two years in Washington.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

Senate leaders depend on the filibuster to protect their party in the minority, so pressure to scrap it, as activist Mike Cernovich demanded over the SAVE Act, a bill to require proof of citizenship to register, lands directly on the leader. Thune's defence of the rule is what turned an online attack into a procedural motion.

House Republicans pick their leader by secret ballot of the conference, and 179 members voted on 10 November on our count. No voter or donor sees an individual choice, which lets a large bloc back a confrontational candidate at no public cost.

What could happen next?

Consequence
House Republicans under Jordan are likely to oppose bills Democrats bring under suspension, slowing routine legislation.
Risk
The 15 senators who backed delaying Thune's re-election form a bloc that could press him on the filibuster through 2027.

Source Landscape

This story draws on mixed-leaning sources from United States and United Arab Emirates

United States

United Arab Emirates

Primary parallel: After Republicans lost The House in 2006, Speaker Dennis Hastert stepped back and the conference elected John Boehner minority leader over Mike Pence, 168 to 27, on 17 November 2006, House Republican Conference records show. A defeated majority replaced its top figure rather than keeping him.

Counter-parallel: After Democrats lost The House in 2010, Nancy Pelosi kept her post, beating Heath Shuler 150 to 43 for minority leader on 17 November 2010. That conference kept its speaker as leader, which the House Republicans of 2026 declined to do.

Consensus view: Frances Lee of Princeton argues in Insecure Majorities (2016) that when control of Congress is always in play, parties favour messaging over legislating. A party that has just lost The House picking Jordan, a founder of the Freedom Caucus, over Scalise, a former whip, fits that model: the conference chose a campaigner for 2028 over an operator.

Counter-view: The Congressional Research Service's guide to suspension of the rules shows where a minority still holds power. Bills passed on the fast track need two-thirds of The House, so a disciplined minority can deny the majority its quickest route, and that rewards a leader who can hold members together rather than one who negotiates.

Key tension: Whether Jordan uses the minority's blocking power on suspension votes, or the conference's appetite for confrontation outruns his control of it.

First Reported In

Update #24 · Late ballots flip North Carolina's 3rd

CNBC· 11 Nov 2026

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Causes and effects

Caused by

Democrats win the Senate and the House

House Republicans replaced their leadership after losing the chamber, while Senate Republicans kept Thune.

Occurred 3 Nov 2026

Read story →

This Event

Jim Jordan wins House GOP leader race

House Republicans replaced their leadership after losing the chamber, while Senate Republicans kept the leader the right blames for the SAVE Act's failure.

Different Perspectives

University of Florida Election Lab

The lab, run by Michael McDonald, estimates about 124.3 million ballots, a raw midterm record, and turnout of about 49.4% of eligible voters, second to 2018's 50.05%. The raw record reflects population growth more than a record rate, so the late count is working through a near-2018 electorate.

Thune's critics on the right, including Senator Ron Johnson

Ron Johnson backed the failed 31-15 motion to delay Thune's re-election, after activists such as Mike Cernovich blamed the leader for the defeat. Their complaint is that Republicans could have passed the SAVE Act; in January it meets a Democratic Senate instead.

Senator John Thune

Thune was re-elected Senate Republican leader by acclamation on 10 November after a motion to delay failed 31-15. He kept the filibuster that stopped the SAVE Act, the choice his critics on the right blame for the defeat.

House Republicans under Jim Jordan

House Republicans elected Jordan minority leader by 106 votes to 73 over Steve Scalise on 10 November, after Speaker Mike Johnson declined to run. They replaced the leadership that lost the majority, while Senate Republicans kept theirs.

Donald Trump

Trump asked on Truth Social on 9 November whether anybody believed the election "was honest" and blamed the machines, having told The New York Times on polling night he would accept the results. No Republican campaign had sued over a 2026 result by 10 November, so the claim has no case behind it.

Judge David O. Carter

Carter closed the Justice Department's suit over about 20,000 California mail ballots on 10 November after the department withdrew it, writing that the suit "attempted to disrupt an ongoing election". The closure leaves the department with no court order touching a 2026 California ballot.

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.