WASHINGTON — After a blue tidal wave swept them from power, House and Senate Republicans will try to pick up the pieces Tuesday and select their leadership teams for the new Congress.
\n\nHouse Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has already heeded his party’s call for new blood, announcing he will forgo a bid for minority leader and step down from leadership. But other GOP leaders in both chambers are fighting to hang on to power in the wake of last week’s historic midterm drubbing.
\n\nIn the House, Johnson’s decision has triggered a two-person race for minority leader. Johnson’s trusted top lieutenant and fellow Louisiana Republican, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, is fending off a challenge from Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, the founding chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus.
\n\nBoth are allies of President Donald Trump and ran unsuccessfully for speaker in 2023 after Kevin McCarthy was ousted. The elections will be held behind closed doors and by secret ballot. Candidates will make their pitches to the conference beginning at 9 a.m. ET, with a vote in the afternoon.
\n\nScalise made the pitch to colleagues that he can unify factions of House Republicans against the “socialists” coming to Washington…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health