Speaker rules out standing as minority leader
Speaker Dennis Hastert told fellow Republicans today he does not intend to run for minority leader when Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in January, officials said.
Hastert conveyed word in a conference call one day after Republicans lost control of the House in midterm elections.
His decision to step down cleared the way for a likely succession battle.
Congressman John Boehner of Ohio, the majority leader, is expected to run, and Congressmen Mike Pence of Indiana and Joe Barton of Texas have also signalled they may make a bid for leadership positions.
The officials said they did not know whether Hastert intended to remain in Congress.
He was elected to an 11th term in Illinois last night, and had said he would seek a new term as speaker if the Republicans held the House.
There is no recent precedent for Hastert’s situation. The last time control of the House changed hands, in 1994, the speaker at the time, Democratic Congressman Tom Foley of Washington, lost his House seat.
