'Republicans are furious': Steve Scalise may have already doomed his campaign to become House speaker

12 October 2023

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana), not House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), is officially House Republicans' nominee for speaker. But it remains to be seen whether or not he can get the 217 votes needed to be confirmed in a full House vote.

When former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) was nominated for that position in January, it took 15 votes before he was confirmed — only to be ousted because of a "motion to vacate" triggered by far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) nine months later.

Theodoric Meyer and Leigh Ann Caldwell of the Washington Post analyze Scalise's quest to become House speaker in an October 12 column. And they argue that a move by the Louisiana Republican may have doomed his quest to become speaker.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

"House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) successfully blocked a rule change to House Republicans' election to select their nominee for speaker on Wednesday, (October 11) that would have forced nearly every Republican to unite on a nominee behind closed doors," Meyer and Caldwell explain. "The move allowed Scalise to become Republicans' nominee with only 113 votes — but it might have cost him the speaker's gavel. It looks increasingly likely that Scalise has no path to garnering the 217 Republican votes to become speaker."

The Post journalists continue, "Scalise whipped against the rule change before the vote because he thought he was more likely to unify House Republicans in public if he won the nomination instead of fighting it out against Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), his rival for the speakership, for hours or days in private. But Republicans failed to unite around Scalise after the vote. Now, many House Republicans are furious that the party once again looks incompetent, directionless and in disarray more than a week after eight Republicans ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the speakership."

Read the Washington Post's full analysis at this link (subscription required).

From Your Site Articles