WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson will be stepping aside from Republican Party leadership after the GOP’s wipeout in the midterm election, declining to seek support to stay on as House minority leader in the new Congress, according to two people familiar with his decision Wednesday.

Johnson is expected to retain his seat as a rank-and-file member of the House from Louisiana when Congress convenes in January. He won reelection from his Shreveport-area district for a sixth term in office.

It’s a swift rise and fall for Johnson, often seen as an accidental speaker, who nevertheless drew close to President Donald Trump and led the House GOP during a tumultuous era, with one of the slimmest majorities in modern times.

And it sets up a fierce internal party battle for the new GOP leader after Democrats swept to power.

Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the House majority leader, is running for the leadership post, according to a person familiar with his plans. Rep.…