Tom Emmer beats August Pfluger to be minority whip

House GOP Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) defeated Republican Study Committee Chair (RSC) August Pfluger (R-Texas) to be minority whip in the next Congress.

Emmer has been serving as the majority whip since 2023 and previously chaired the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Emmer faced a difficult balancing act in navigating the GOP’s razor-thin majority, with conservative hardliners frequently blocking legislation from advancing in the House to pressure leadership into making concessions on their priorities.

But in his Dear Colleague letter to Republicans, Emmer noted that Republicans “will always have disagreements over policy and strategy.”

“That’s a good thing. Governing is messy and imperfect. But there is more that unites us than divides us,” Emmer said.

“Over the last four years, the Whip Team brought members together from across our conference to hash out disagreements and find a path to 218 votes. That is the formula that earned us our biggest wins, and it will be essential in our effort to stop the radical left and retake the majority,” he added.

He told The Hill in an exclusive interview back in May that a softer touch is key to wooing rambunctious members in the conference. Emmer has played a central role in helping advance many of President Trump’s key legislative priorities, including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

President Trump praised Emmer during the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signing last year, noting that, “when I have a problem I call him up and he gets it done.”