House Republicans torch each other over "brutal" midterms losses
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U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson leaves a campaign event on Nov. 2 in Richmond, Va. Photo: Mike Kropf/Richmond Times-Dispatch via Getty Images
SHREVEPORT, La. — The GOP's election-night defeat has unleashed a wave of finger-pointing inside the House Republican conference, with members questioning whether Speaker Mike Johnson or any of the other top deputies can survive next week's leadership elections.
Why it matters: Johnson spent months insisting Republicans would defy the odds and keep the House. But after losing the majority, he cast the defeat as all but inevitable, an explanation unlikely to satisfy Republicans ready for a new leadership slate.
- One House Republican told Axios that every member of GOP leadership will face a challenger because of the election results.
- Another said the losses have created a major opening for Republicans looking to challenge the current leadership team.
- A third said they no longer see a path for Johnson to remain atop the conference.
Driving the news: At Johnson's election-night watch party in his hometown of Shreveport, the mood grew increasingly somber as it became clear Democrats would secure the House majority.
- Johnson remained offstage until just before 11pm Eastern time, even after networks projected Democrats would win control of the chamber.
- In a soundtrack to the GOP's election-night defeat, "White on the Ground" by the Kruse Brothers played over the speakers to a subdued crowd just before Johnson took the stage.
- "It's only happened twice in 90 years that a sitting president has picked up or held seats for his party in that first two-year cycle," Johnson told supporters Tuesday night. "It's very, very difficult to overcome, and it looks like history will be kept here tonight."
Behind the scenes: House Republicans were already privately unloading on their leaders Tuesday night, with some arguing the scale of the party's losses demands a change at the top.
- "I think Iran, ICE, inflation, fuel prices, lack of focus on pocketbook issues all played a part of this," one member told Axios.
- Asked for a vibe check, one member simply texted Axios: "Brutal."
- The scale of the losses was underscored by the defeat of NRCC Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) — the man tasked with preserving the Republican majority who couldn't hold onto his own seat.
Zoom in: Johnson spent months crisscrossing the country in a last-ditch effort to save Republicans' fragile majority, traveling to more than 40 congressional districts across 22 states.
- Johnson publicly insisted in October that he intended to remain the top House Republican even if his party lost the majority, but he has yet to formally declare any plans to run for minority leader.
- Trump praised Johnson in an interview with Politico on Tuesday, but stopped short of endorsing him for the job. "He's going to have to make that decision," Trump said of Johnson.
What we're watching: House Republicans are scheduled to hold leadership elections Nov. 10, with candidates required to declare by Nov. 6.
- Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) are also being floated as potential contenders.
