GOP nominates Scalise for speaker
But vote of full House delayed amid divisions
WASHINGTON — Representative Steve Scalise of louisiana narrowly scraped together enough Republican support wednesday to become his party’s choice to lead the House, but deep divisions in the GOP ranks threatened to complicate his election as speaker.
Mere minutes after a slim majority of Republicans voted in a closed-door party meeting to select him as the party’s candidate, Scalise’s fate was thrown into doubt. Several Republican lawmakers announced they would not back him on the House floor without concessions, complaining of a rushed process to choose a new speaker.
Republicans delayed an election of the full House that had been planned for midafternoon while the party regrouped.
A week and a day after the abrupt and historic ouster of former speaker kevin McCarthy, at the hands of a small right-wing bloc, Republicans voted behind closed doors, 11399, to name Scalise, their second-ranking leader, as his successor. Scalise turned back a challenge by Representative Jim Jordan of ohio, the chair of the Judiciary Committee and a favorite of the hard right who had the endorsement of former president Donald trump.
But Scalise still had to win a majority on the House floor, where chaos reigned the last time Republicans tried to elect a speaker, and it was clear that Scalise did not have enough votes.
Representative Chip Roy of texas, the policy director for the ultraconservative House freedom Caucus who engineered what he called a “power sharing agreement” with McCarthy during his excruciatingly drawnout election in January, called for a delay.
“I will not be voting for @SteveScalise,” Roy wrote on the social media site X, formerly known as twitter, complaining that Scalise was pushing ahead too swiftly in a move he called “unacceptable & purposeful.”
Scalise said it was crucial that the House quickly reconstitute itself so it could confront challenges at home and abroad.
“We need to make sure we’re sending a message to people all throughout the world that the House is open and doing the people’s business,” he said in brief remarks after his nomination.
After his slender loss, Jordan met with Scalise and offered to nominate him on the House floor, according to a spokesperson, but his supporters did not appear to be following his lead.
“I just voted for Jim Jordan for speaker on a private ballot in conference, and i will be voting for Jim Jordan on the House floor,” said Representative marjorie taylor greene, a far-right Republican from georgia.
“I’m not switching my vote,” said Representative max miller, a Republican from ohio. “i’m Jim Jordan all the way.”
The situation underscored the formidable challenge any Republican speaker would face in navigating the same dynamics that made the party ungovernable for McCarthy. the party’s minuscule majority has empowered a far-right faction that will not tolerate compromise with Democrats who control the Senate and the white House.
The Republican infighting has left the House largely paralyzed since McCarthy’s ouster. lawmakers were growing increasingly worried about the effect of continuing to operate without a duly elected speaker, including that the chamber might not be able to support israel after an invasion by Palestinian group Hamas that has led to more than 1,000 israeli deaths and scores of hostages being taken.
Early in the day, Scalise gained ground after Republicans killed an effort to change their party rules for nominating a candidate for speaker by requiring a public roll-call and a higher threshold that would have made it more difficult for him to prevail.
In Congress since 2008, Scalise was diagnosed with blood cancer over the summer and is now undergoing intense treatment, which has prompted him to wear a mask on the House floor. and in 2017, during a practice for a congressional baseball game, an anti-trump extremist shot and seriously wounded Scalise. He still walks with a limp.
Over the past year, Scalise has been marginalized by McCarthy, who has privately described him to colleagues as ineffective, checked out, and reluctant to take positions, and cut him out of all major decision making.