WASHINGTON – House Republicans gathered Wednesday afternoon at a hotel just blocks from the Capitol to elect their leadership team for the 119th Congress after projections showed that they would retain control of the lower chamber.
“We have a very well-designed playbook,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said during a press conference following the vote. “And we will begin to execute those plays with precision on day one.”
While Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) all ran unopposed for their positions, the conference chair role was the most closely watched contested race. The position is currently held by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), but is set to become vacant when the Senate confirms her appointment as U.N. ambassador for the incoming Trump administration.
Members elected Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) to fill the role over Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.), making McClain the fourth-ranked Republican and the highest-ranking woman in Congress.
Ahead of the vote, President-elect Donald Trump met with House Republicans in a closed-door session Wednesday morning, endorsing Johnson as Speaker and delivering a unifying message that Johnson later described as “a bit of a pep rally.” Johnson was nominated by the conference without opposition and now awaits his formal election after the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3.
“When President Trump talked about the things he would do to make America great again, it’s not just a tagline on a hat,” Scalise said.
Before introducing the newly elected conference leaders, Speaker Johnson was joined at the podium by the leaders of two major factions within the House Republican conference: Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), chair of the Main Street Caucus and Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chair of the Freedom Caucus.
Together, the pair discussed changes to conference rules governing House Republicans’ internal affairs. Most notably, they announced an agreement to raise the threshold required to force a vote to remove a Speaker from one member to nine, a move aimed at preventing the kind of chaos that erupted when Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) filed a motion that eventually ousted then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October 2023.
“We’ve been able to work across the conference to eliminate the controversial issues that could have divided us and move forward together to deliver on the President’s agenda,” Harris said.
In addition to the four top leadership roles, House Republicans re-elected Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) as chair of the Republican National Congressional Committee, the party’s campaign arm. Hudson ran unopposed for the position after a highly successful election cycle for the GOP.
The conference selected Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) as Policy Chair, Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah) as Vice Chair and Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Ind.) for conference secretary.
While the leadership vote was underway, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he had selected Gaetz as his nominee for Attorney General. Gaetz became the third sitting House Republican to be tapped for a senior role in Trump’s administration, joining Stefanik and Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.). In an unexpected move, Gaetz resigned from Congress immediately following the announcement, Speaker Johnson confirmed after the vote.
“Out of deference to us, he issued his resignation letter effective immediately from Congress. That caught us by surprise a little bit,” Johnson said.
The House Ethics Committee was reportedly set to release a critical report on its investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use involving Rep. Matt Gaetz Friday. However, the release is now expected to be shelved following Gaetz’s resignation.
Johnson said the reason Gaetz resigned immediately was to speed up the process of filling his seat, given the slim majority by which Republicans are expected to control the House
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis will need to schedule both a primary and a general election to fill Gaetz’s vacant spot. Johnson explained that, under Florida law, the process of electing a replacement would take about eight weeks. Although Johnson said he had already called DeSantis after Gaetz’s resignation, the two will not discuss the details of a special election until Thursday at the earliest, as DeSantis is currently in Italy.
Filling Gaetz’s seat is just the first of several Republican vacancies expected to arise in both the House and the Senate.
In addition to Gaetz, DeSantis will be responsible for scheduling a special election to fill Rep. Michael Waltz’s seat. However, unless Waltz follows the same path as Gaetz—something Johnson noted they would discuss—the special election for Waltz’s seat won’t take place until January.
In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul will have to call for a general election within 10 days of Stefanik’s seat becoming vacant. Local party officials will select candidates to run in the general election in lieu of a primary.
“People have asked me all day long, ‘Is President Trump poaching all of your talent?’” Johnson said. He jokingly responded with a “yes,” but added that he told Trump, “Enough already.”
