Jim Jordan throws hat in ring for House minority leader as GOP picks up pieces after blue wave

There's blood in the water as House Republicans watch their razor-thin majority disappear under an ocean of Democratic victories. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is throwing his hat in the ring to lead the chamber's Republicans for the next two years, two sources told Fox News Digital, potentially setting up a bruising battle against Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to be in charge of the House minority. Jordan began making calls to colleagues after House Republicans' massive losses began taking shape late on Tuesday night, Fox News Digital was told. In a letter sent to House GOP colleagues on Wednesday morning, first obtained by Fox News Digital, Jordan called the day after the elections "staggering." INSIDE TOP TRUMP BULLDOG’S PLAN TO SAVE HOUSE GOP MAJORITY AND DEFY HISTORY "We are all losing colleagues and friends who've been valuable members of our Conference and leaders in our party. As we look to the future, we must learn from these results," Jordan wrote. "I am battle-tested on the oversight front and I know the Democrats' playbook. I know what it will take to lead our Conference in the minority, to stay unified, and to coordinate and calibrate our response to the Democrats' tactics." It comes as the House of Representatives is projected to fall into Democratic hands for the remainder of President Donald Trump's term. Republican lawmakers had for months expected Jordan to launch a bid for House minority leader should they lose the House majority in this year's elections. He's quietly been building up support and goodwill within the House GOP and spent much of the midterm season campaigning for various Republican candidates across the country. Whoever wins House minority leader is all but guaranteed to take on the role of Trump's top defender against a barrage of Democrat-led investigations and potentially even impeachment efforts. Jordan has spent the last six years as top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, where he's gone toe-to-toe with the very Democrats who will likely be at the forefront of the Trump accountability push. DEM PROBES COULD ‘TORTURE’ YOUNG TRUMP OFFICIALS WITH CRUSHING LEGAL BILLS, SUBPOENAED CONSERVATIVE WARNS Jordan previously ran for House speaker in October 2023 after a GOP rebellion deposed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., but failed to clinch the necessary chamber-wide majority. Moderate Republicans who opposed that campaign accused Jordan's allies of fomenting an aggressive public pressure campaign that even escalated to death threats in some instances. But the Ohio Republican has spent recent years morphing his image from a divisive GOP bomb-thrower to a unifying leader for the right — and he's even campaigned for some of those same moderate Republicans who opposed him previously. MIKE JOHNSON'S FUTURE HANGS IN BALANCE AS THE 'ACCIDENTAL SPEAKER' MARKS 3 YEARS And becoming minority leader is significantly easier than becoming House speaker. A candidate for speaker must get a majority of the entire House of Representatives to win the gavel, but a minority leader only needs a majority of their party. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told staff on Wednesday morning that he will not seek the minority leader role, sources told Fox News Digital. Jordan is poised to face a significant challenge, however, from current House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP Scalise, as a member of senior House leadership, has been crisscrossing the country in support of fellow Republicans and has spent years as a potent fundraiser for the right. It comes after a devastating night for Republicans across the federal and state levels. Both battleground-district Republicans and GOP lawmakers in safe-red seats fell to a tsunami of Democratic victories. The losses prompted House Republicans to demand new leadership, which could work out in Jordan's favor, and many of those moderates who had opposed Jordan's 2023 speakership bid lost their seats on Tuesday night.