Steve Scalise sensationally dropped out of the race for Speaker of the House of Representatives, paralyzing Congress.
The House’s No. 2 Republican won a Republican election to become speaker after Kevin McCarthy was spectacularly ousted from office last week.
Given Republicans’ slim majority, Scalise could only afford to lose four Republican votes in a full House vote to confirm him as speaker.
But more than a dozen of his Republican colleagues said they would oppose him in such a vote, so he withdrew.
Scalise, who is also currently battling blood cancer, said: “Our conference has yet to happen and she’s not there.” “There are still some people who have their own plans.”
It has been ten days since McCarthy was unseated by his own party.
Without a speaker, the House of Representatives remained in a state of inaction, despite increasingly urgent calls for action to help Israel in its war against Hamas and prevent a possible shutdown of the federal government after current funding expires on November 17.
The list of Republicans who say they will reject Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the No. 2 Republican in the House, for the post has grown, not shorter
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks to reporters after a Republican meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023
Scalise said his Republican colleagues need to “look in the mirror,” put rivalries aside and do what’s best for the country.
He said: “There are some people who will have to look in the mirror in the next few days and decide to get back on track. “You can try to get back on track or you can have your own agenda pursue, but you can’t do both.”
Scalise said he was still optimistic that Republicans could unite around someone.
“I think we’ll do it. “It’s not going to happen tomorrow, it has to happen soon,” he said.
Tensions are running high on Capitol Hill over the course of 10 days, and Republicans have no candidate for speaker.
“Dysfunctional, disorganized and broken,” is how Texas Rep. Troy Nehls, who wants to make Donald Trump speaker of the House of Representatives, described his party after leaving a Republican meeting in the House of Representatives.
“I don’t believe the Lord Jesus could reach 217!” Nehls recalled one member saying in the meeting.
“We’re not moving forward,” said Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., who admitted she’s worried about how the disorder will affect her swing district race in 2024.
“We have a war in Israel…It’s really frustrating.”
Nancy Mace, one of the Republicans who declined to support Scalise, said it was because of a comment he allegedly once made about former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke.
Scalise is said to have described himself as a duke “without baggage.”
Most of the Republicans who refused to support Scalise were supporters of Congressman Jordan of Ohio, a key ally of Donald Trump.
Jim Jordan, Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, could try to become speaker
Jim Jordan is a key ally of Donald Trump in Congress
However, there were widespread doubts about whether Jordan could find enough support in the Republican Party.
“The representatives must be aware that they are wasting a majority in the House of Representatives. You are wasting a majority. The American people deserve better,” Republican Rep. Andy Barr said after Scalise announced his retirement.
“We were elected for a reason, but we are undoing an election because we can’t even find a speaker,” he added. “This is not what the American people voted for in 2022.”
Republicans met behind closed doors on Friday to discuss options for a new second secret ballot — Scalise won the first — and that could take place later in the day.
Jordan, who did not immediately renew his candidacy after Scalise’s withdrawal.
The competitors for the speaker post, Jim Jordan (left) and Steve Scalise (right), have already worked closely together before
“We need to focus on the person who can get the votes and get the job done as quickly as possible, get it done and move on,” Republican Congressman Roger Williams said Friday.
He said it was not clear how, adding that it was unclear how many of the 221 House Republicans remained in Washington before the weekend.
Rep. Don Bacon, a centrist Republican, said he and other lawmakers would withhold their support for Jordan for now.
“I struggle with it,” Bacon said. “We had five people today who said they would only vote for Jim and not Steve. So a lot of us…feel like bad behavior is rewarded when we do that.”
Bacon also said he would expect Jordan to face a challenger for the nomination.
With a narrow Republican majority in the House of Representatives of 221-212, the party’s next nominee for speaker can afford to lose the support of no more than four Republicans up for election to Democratic opposition.
Republicans had hoped to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing spectacle of January, when hardline conservatives forced McCarthy to endure 15 votes in four days before he ultimately won the gavel.
Scalise’s withdrawal came after days of standstill behind closed doors.
Rep. Greg Murphy suggested Republicans could settle on a compromise candidate, perhaps Rep. Patrick McHenry, who has served as acting speaker since McCarthy’s ouster on Oct. 3.
The ongoing division within Republican circles has also led to speculation that Republicans may turn to Democrats to support a consensus candidate.
Scalise and Donald Trump’s ally Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee, faced off in an internal House Republican vote in which Scalise won 113-99.