Scalise ends bid to become speaker
Couldn’t secure votes to take top role in House
WASHINGTON — Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana withdrew from consideration for the speakership he was on the cusp of claiming on Thursday, after hard-line Republicans balked at rallying around their party’s chosen candidate, leaving the House leaderless and the party in chaos.
After being narrowly nominated for speaker during a Tuesday closed-door secret-ballot contest among House Republicans, Scalise, their No. 2 leader, found himself far from the 217 votes needed to be elected on the House floor. Many supporters of his challenger, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the right-wing Republican endorsed by former president Donald Trump, refused to switch their allegiance.
With no clear end in sight to the Republican infighting that has left one chamber of Congress paralyzed at a time of challenges at home and abroad, Scalise said he would step aside in hopes that someone else could unite the fractious party.
“I just shared with my colleagues that I was withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker-designee,” Scalise said. “If you look at where our conference is, there’s still work to be done. Our conference still has to come together, and it’s not there. There are still some people that have their own agendas.”
His abrupt exit left Republicans back at square one, as fractured as ever over who should lead them and trading recriminations about the disarray in which they found themselves.
It came after an extraordinary few days on Capitol Hill that put Republican divisions on vivid display. Scalise had bested Jordan during the internal party contest by just 14 votes, and rather than consolidate his narrow base of backers, Scalise almost immediately began hemorrhaging supporters as lawmakers from several different factions let it be known they did not intend to fall into line behind him.
It did not help that Trump weighed in Thursday against Scalise, arguing that the Louisianan was unfit for the speakership because he is battling blood cancer.
“Steve is a man that is in serious trouble, from the standpoint of his cancer,” Trump said on Fox News Radio, adding later: “I just don’t know how you can do the job when you have such a serious problem.”
Other top House Republicans had also refrained from publicly rallying around Scalise, instead allowing the resistance to him in their ranks to fester. Jordan never made a fullthroated endorsement of Scalise, despite indicating his support. And Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the ousted former speaker who has an icy relationship with Scalise, said the Louisiana Republican had overestimated his backing and might be unable to recover.
Jordan was expected to pursue the speakership after Scalise’s withdrawal. McCarthy said he would “let the conference decide” whether to reinstate him from the job he was kicked out of just last week.
It was the latest remarkable turn in a saga that has been marked by whiplash, shifting alliances, and petty grudges. The situation has highlighted major changes in the nature of the House Republican conference, whose members once dutifully lined up in support of their chosen leaders but increasingly appear to be pursuing a strategy of every member for themselves.
“There’s some folks that really need to look in the mirror over the next couple of days and decide are we going to get back on track or are they going to try to pursue their own agenda?” Scalise said. “You can’t do both.”
The uncertainty has hobbled the House amid multiple crises, with US allies at war in Israel and Ukraine and a government shutdown looming next month if Congress cannot reach a spending agreement.
Scalise has served in House leadership since 2014 and overcome great personal hardship to become the choice of a majority of Republicans to lead the chamber.
He was diagnosed with blood cancer over the summer and is now undergoing intense treatment, which has prompted him to wear a mask to vote on the House floor and attend news conferences. 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 from the incident.
It was not clear whether he would be able to keep his post as majority leader after his failed attempt to win the top job in the House, but he indicated he would try to remain in the No. 2 slot.
“I’m the majority leader of the House. I love the job I have,” Scalise said. “I’ve had many challenges in my life. I’ve been tested in ways that really put perspective on life.”
REPRESENTATIVE STEVE SCALISE
‘I just shared with my colleagues that I was withdrawing my name.’