House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has dropped out of the race to become the next speaker of the House.
“I just shared with my colleagues that I will be withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker,” the Louisiana Republican told reporters Thursday after a meeting with the GOP conference.
Scalise, who has touted his ability to build coalitions and unify Republicans, struggled to win support from fractured GOP conference members even after winning Wednesday’s secret ballot election to become speaker-designate.
“I’m very clear that we need to ask everybody to put their agendas aside and focus on what this country needs, this country expects us to get back together,” Scalise said.
“But there are some people who really need to look in the mirror in the next few days and decide whether we’re going to get it back on track, or they’re going to try to push their own agenda,” he added.
He explained that “there are still divisions that need to be resolved.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has dropped out of the race to become the next House speaker.AP
Scalise, 57, has not said whether he plans to endorse House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), whom he lost 113-99 in a closed vote for the speaker nomination.
The Louisiana Republican, who has represented the Bayou State’s 1st Congressional District in the lower house since 2008, said he intends to retain his position as majority leader.
Scalise’s failure to get the 217 GOP votes needed to be elected on the House floor came after more than three hours of closed-door debate at the Capitol on Thursday.
Scalise said that he intends to retain his position as House majority leader.AP
Before his surprise withdrawal, dozens of members said they intended to remain loyal to Jordan, who had been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, or Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who on Oct. 3 became the first Speaker of the House in history to be eliminated after eight Republicans joined with every Democrat to vote him out.
“It’s not an easy task,” McCarthy predicted Thursdaywhen asked by reporters about Scalise’s path forward.
“He told a lot of people that he was going to be 150 years old [conference votes] and he’s not there,” the former speaker added, noting “it’s a big hill” to climb.
Scalise explained that “there are still divisions that need to be resolved.”AP
Scalise insisted during his resignation speech that he did not want to be seen as an obstacle to getting a new speaker elected.
“I never came here to get a title,” he said. “And it’s a lot bigger than me and it’s a lot bigger than anybody else and nobody’s going to use me as an excuse to get in the way of our ability to reopen the House.”
“But it’s not going to happen. It won’t happen today, it won’t happen tomorrow.”
Rep. Dan Meuser (D-Pa.), a Jordan supporter, praised Scalise for stepping aside amid the discord in the conference.
“He put the country before himself,” Meuser told reporters.
With Scalise out, Jordan looks set to run for the nomination again, and one lawmaker suggested that he should be appointed speaker “tonight.”
Rep. Dan Meuser, a Jordanian supporter, praised Scalise for staying quiet amid the discord in the conference.REUTERS
“Jim Jordan is the obvious choice for the conference,” said Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.).
“He was the only man in the room who could muster 217 votes.”
“The best thing Republicans can do is get behind him, make him speaker, do it tonight,” he pleaded with fellow members.
Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-NC) adjourned the House shortly after Scalise’s announcement until 9 a.m. Friday.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) echoed both Meuser and Banks, calling Scalise a selfless statesman and urging the party to quickly nominate a speaker.
“I’m asking GOP members to come back to Washington so we can nominate a Speaker,” Luna tweeted. “Scalise was a statesman and acted in a selfless way by stepping aside. This needs to happen.”
Florida lawmakers floated Jordan, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) and former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) as a possible choice for the GOP.
Hern, who has been campaigning to replace Scalise as House Majority Leader, stated that he would not seek the speakership.
The GOP conference will reportedly meet again at 10 a.m. on Friday and may consider a new speaker candidate.
“I expect, yes,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told reporters when asked if he expected someone to challenge Jordan for the nomination, adding that McCarthy’s name was “being thrown around.”
Scalise, who said he made “no deals with anybody” before quitting, told reporters that he expected “a lot of people” to consider running for speaker after he leaves.
“But it must be people who are not doing it for themselves and their own personal interests,” he added.
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