Tom Emmer wins House Republican whip race over August Pfluger

Jeffries, Clark expected to make history when Democrats vote next week

Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota won election as House Republican whip on Tuesday, taking the No. 2 position in the party’s leadership hierarchy by beating out Rep. August Pfluger of Texas. The vote filled the second spot on a leadership team that will guide Republicans as they take on their new role in the House minority.

Three candidates sought the conference chair post: Reps. Lisa McClain of Michigan, Erin Houchin of Indiana and Greg Steube of Florida.

Democrats will hold their leadership elections next week. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York is expected to become the next House speaker, the first African-American to hold the job, and Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts is expected to become the next majority leader. She would be the first woman to hold that position.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio won the race for House Republican leader on Tuesday, defeating Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana 106-73 in a secret ballot of party members who will serve in the next Congress. President Donald Trump said he was staying out of the race.

Jordan, who serves as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, warned of the Democratic oversight efforts to come, with numerous investigations of the Trump administration expected. “Our job cannot be merely to spotlight how radical this new Democratic Party is — offense, not defense, wins elections,” Jordan said, a nod to his pugnacious reputation in committee hearings. “I am battle-tested on the oversight front and I know the Democrats’ playbook,” he said.

Jordan, 62, is a co-founder of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and served as its first chairman. His candidacy appealed to Republicans looking for new leadership after last week’s election defeats and to those who like his hard-hitting political style.

As minority leader, Jordan inherits a historically small House Republican conference that is only beginning to grapple with its loss of power as Trump serves out his final two years in office. Leading the party back to the House majority in 2028 is sure to be a stiff climb, given the scope of Democratic victories in the midterms.

Scalise, 61, has held key Republican leadership positions going back to 2014, serving as party whip and then as majority leader. In 2017, he was critically wounded when a gunman opened fire at a baseball practice where several Republican lawmakers and staffers were preparing for an annual charity baseball game against Democrats. In 2023, he was stricken with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that was successfully treated.

“Overcoming adversity is nothing new to me,” Scalise said in his pitch to colleagues. He also emphasized his fundraising prowess, noting he raised $67.9 million for this year’s midterms, with about a third of that going directly to individual House campaigns and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

But the majority of Republicans opted for Jordan, who emphasized his experience battling with Democrats in committee rooms. Scalise and Jordan had faced off before, both running to serve as House speaker after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the job a little more than three years ago. Neither was able to rally the support necessary to secure the position, which eventually went to Mike Johnson, who is stepping aside from the leadership in the new Congress.