US House Speaker Mike Johnson will step down from the Republican leadership after his party’s defeat in the midterm elections, his spokesperson confirmed to AFP on Wednesday.

Asked about the departure, the spokesperson replied only “Correct,” according to the agency, in a text republished by Times Brasil. Johnson was reelected as a representative from Louisiana and has not announced an immediate departure from the speakership or from Congress. The opening sets up a contest between current Republican majority leader Steve Scalise, a representative from Louisiana, and Jim Jordan, chair of the Judiciary Committee and a representative from Ohio.