First posted on Instagram
Incoming House Minority Whip Tom Emmer warned Democrats on Tuesday not to get comfortable with the House majority they won in last week's midterm elections, vowing that Republicans will hold them accountable "every day" and fight to win the chamber back in 2028.
"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 at a press conference on Capitol Hill, hours after House Republicans chose their new leadership team. "This Republican leadership team will expose the Democrats' lies and show the American people their true colors as the radical communists that they are."
Emmer said House Republicans will hold "each and every Democrat accountable for every vote cast, every committee hearing held and every sentence said on MSDNC," and argued that Democrats won 39 seats in districts President Donald Trump carried by at least five points in 2024 — seats he said Republicans will target as they work to rebuild their majority.
The warning came hours after Emmer kept his job as the party's whip, defeating Rep. August Pfluger of Texas 103 to 76 in a secret-ballot vote of House Republicans. In the minority, the whip is the party's No. 2 leader, behind incoming Minority Leader Jim Jordan of Ohio, who defeated Majority Leader Steve Scalise 106 to 73. Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan kept her job as conference chair, while outgoing Speaker Mike Johnson did not seek a leadership post.
Republicans lost more than 40 House seats in the November 3 midterm elections. As of Tuesday, Democrats held 254 seats to Republicans' 166, with 15 races still undecided, and Democrats also won control of the Senate. The new Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2027, when Democrats will take control of the House for the final two years of Trump's term.
Emmer compared the moment to 2018, when Republicans lost the House and then won it back in 2022. "We will undo the damage and chaos caused by these radicals and we will retake the majority in 2028," he said. "And those of you who are smiling right now, remember we told you this back in 2018 as we were going into 2019 and nobody thought we could and we did. We are going to do it again."
Emmer, who has represented Minnesota's 6th Congressional District since 2015, has served as House majority whip since 2023 and previously chaired the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House Republicans' campaign arm, from 2019 to 2023.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026