Scalise and Jordan Vie for GOP Leadership as Progressives Push Back on Schumer and Jeffries

Two days after Democrats' stunning night at the polls, Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan went on CNN and said he thought Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland "would be an amazing Senate majority leader." Van Hollen has not announced he is running for anything. El-Sayed's comment was the latest sign that the midterms ended one fight and opened several others, this time inside each party's leadership ranks.

El-Sayed has telegraphed his position for months. In late June he said that if you are Chuck Schumer, "I'm dangerous." Right after the election, on NBC, he sidestepped a direct question about backing Schumer, saying he would vote for whichever option offered the best chance of getting money out of politics, putting money in pockets and passing Medicare for all. He is not alone among the incoming class. Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton of Kansas said on Fox before the election that he would not vote for Schumer. Sen.-elect Annie Andrews of South Carolina said both parties are ready for a new generation of leadership. Sen.-elect Troy Jackson of Maine said he told Schumer directly that he will support someone else.

Schumer, asked by reporters on Wednesday, was unbothered. He said he would be re-elected majority leader and that the focus should be on what Americans want. The arithmetic is on his side for now: in a secret caucus vote he needs roughly 29 members, a majority of the Senate Democrats expected to serve next year.

On the House side, at least five members of the Democratic Socialists of America say they will withhold support for Hakeem Jeffries as speaker, which would make him the first Black speaker in U.S. history, unless they win commitments on their agenda. A speaker needs an outright majority of the full House when the new Congress convenes Jan. 3, which is 218 of 435 if every member-elect votes. Democrats may finish with more than 260 seats once all races are settled, so Jeffries could absorb dozens of defections.

Republicans have their own reshuffling. Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana will not pursue the minority leader post. Last month he told Fox's Aishah Hasnie that if God moved on his heart, he would go back to Shreveport and start a lawn business. Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio are both running to be the House's top Republican. Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota wants to be minority whip and faces a challenge from Rep. August Pfluger of Texas. Both Scalise and Jordan are closely aligned with President Trump, and it is unclear whether Republicans want that now, since some hope to move past it. In the Senate, Trump does not always agree with Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, but he has not demanded a change.

Democrats campaigned on the cost of living and holding the Trump administration accountable, but there is no 1994-style Contract with America to spell out their legislative plan. The ideas on offer are many. Sen.-elect Juliana Stratton of Illinois wants to start by rolling back cuts in what she called the "one big ugly bill." Renewing expired Obamacare subsidies is expected to come up again; the House passed such a bill, the Senate did not, and the dispute drove last year's record 43-day government shutdown. Rep. Greg Casar of Texas, chairman of the Progressive Caucus, called the revolt against data centers "initial tremors of a bigger AI earthquake."

Votes on ending the war in Iran are also likely, possibly by cutting off funding. The House approved three war powers resolutions and the Senate one, but none constrained the president. Democrats argue that ending the war would lower gas prices and, in turn, grocery costs. On tariffs, Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona urged Republicans to show courage and end what he called a self-defeating regime. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, a Republican, countered that voters underappreciated the tax cuts and the Big, Beautiful Bill.

Trump has signaled he will work with Democrats and also use his veto. Overriding one takes two-thirds of each chamber: 290 in the House and 67 in the Senate. Democrats are guaranteed 54 Senate seats, with Mississippi and Alaska undecided. At 56, they would need 11 Republicans, harder with Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Bill Cassidy and Thom Tillis departing, though the source calls it within range. Much depends on what Democrats can pass and what Trump will sign.