Tom Emmer told Democrats on Tuesday to enjoy their win while it lasts, warning that they will regret ever running for office once they take control of the House in January. The Minnesota Republican made the comments at a press conference hours after House Republicans chose their leadership team for the next Congress, one week after the party suffered one of its worst midterm defeats in years.
“To our colleagues on the left, enjoy this honeymoon phase because, come January 3, 2027, you will regret ever putting your name on a ballot,” Emmer said. “This Republican leadership team will expose the Democrats’ lies and show the American people their true colors as the radical communists that they are.”
It sounds like a victory lap. It came from a party that just lost control of Congress.
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Republicans lost more than 40 House seats in last week’s midterms. As of Tuesday, Democrats hold 254 seats to Republicans’ 166 heading into the next Congress, with 15 races still undecided. Republicans also lost the Senate. Trump had asked voters to treat the election as if he were on the ballot, and many did. In the NBC News exit poll, 43% of voters said opposing Trump was one reason for their House vote, while 16% said supporting him was.
January 3 is the day the new Congress is sworn in and Democrats officially take over the House. Until then, Republicans still hold the majority. After that, the party in charge decides which bills get a vote, who runs each committee and which investigations move forward. The minority party has far less power, but it can still slow things down, force uncomfortable votes and use hearings and the media to go after the majority. Emmer’s warning is a promise that Republicans plan to use every one of those tools.
The leadership team Tom Emmer was talking about shows how. Earlier Tuesday, House Republicans voted 106 to 73 to make Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan their leader in the minority, choosing him over Majority Leader Steve Scalise. Speaker Mike Johnson announced after election night that he would step down from leadership. Jordan was the first chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, the most hardline conservative bloc in the House, and he chairs the Judiciary Committee, where he has led some of the party’s most high profile investigations. He pitched himself to colleagues as a fighter, saying he is “battle tested on the oversight front” and knows “the Democrats’ playbook.”
Tom Emmer also had his own reason to come out swinging. As whip, he is the party’s chief vote counter, the person responsible for making sure members show up and vote with leadership. In the minority, the whip becomes the second highest ranking Republican in the House, and Emmer had to fight to keep the job. Texas Rep. August Pfluger challenged him, telling colleagues the party needed fresh ideas and a clear game plan to win in 2028. Some members also complained about how close votes were handled on the floor this year. Emmer won 103 to 76.
His standing with the Trump wing of the party has been shaky before. In 2023, Emmer won the Republican nomination for speaker, then dropped out the same day after Trump attacked him on Truth Social as out of touch with Republican voters. Hardliners also held his vote to protect same sex marriage against him. Standing beside Jordan and calling Democrats “radical communists” signals that Emmer is fully on board with the more combative direction his conference just chose.
After the vote, Tom Emmer compared this moment to 2018, when Republicans lost the House and later won it back in 2022. He said Republicans will work to “regain the trust and confidence of the American people” and build a new majority in 2028.
Democrats will hold the House for the final two years of Trump’s term. Emmer’s message is that Republicans plan to spend those two years on offense.
