No. 2 House Republican Steve Scalise shockingly drops out of the race for speaker as chaos consumes the GOP
Steve Scalise has dropped out of the race to become speaker in a stunning development.
Scalise, the House’s number two Republican, won an election among Republicans to be their nominee for speaker after Kevin McCarthy was ousted last week.
With Republicans’ narrow majority, he could only afford to lose four votes on the House floor — but more than a dozen Republicans remained steadfast in their opposition to him.
“Our conference has yet to meet and it’s not there. There are still some people who have their own agendas,” Scalise told reporters after meeting with House Republicans and announcing his plans.
The list of Republicans who say they will oppose Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the House’s number two Republican, for the job has grown longer, not shorter, since he was chosen during the conference
‘There are some people who have to look in the mirror over the next few days and decide to get back on track. You can try to get back on track or you can pursue your own agenda, but you can’t do both.’
Still, Scalise seemed optimistic that Republicans could coalesce around a speaker who could be elected on the floor.
“I think we’re going to get there. I was very clearly in that room,’ he said. “It’s not going to happen tomorrow, it has to happen soon.”
Tensions on Capitol Hill are sky high as ten days pass and Republicans now have no nominee for speaker.
‘Dysfunctional, disorganized and broken’, is how Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, — who wants Donald Trump to be House Speaker — described his party after leaving a meeting of House Republicans.
“I don’t think the Lord Jesus could get to 217!” Nehls recalled a member who said in the meeting.
‘We’re not going forward,’ says Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., who admitted she worries about how the disorder will play out in her swing district race in 2024.
“We have war in Israel… It’s really frustrating.”
Scalise and Donald Trump’s ally Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee, faced off in an internal House GOP vote where Scalise won 113-99.
