House Majority Leader Steve Scalise won his Republican colleagues’ nomination Wednesday to move up to House speaker, but he still has to win over some hard-line conservatives loyal to Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, or risk another protracted election on the House floor.
Scalise, R-La., defeated Jordan 113-99 in private balloting by the GOP conference, lawmakers said, but some of the 113 reportedly included territorial delegates who can't vote on the floor. Some lawmakers voted for someone other than Scalise or Jordan.
Republicans narrowly control the House, 221-212, so Scalise needs 217 GOP votes to win the speakership, assuming all of the Democrats vote against him, as expected.
Some Republicans came out of the conference meeting, saying a floor vote could occur as soon as afternoon Wednesday, but other lawmakers said it would take Scalise some time to ensure he has a majority of the full House and can avoid the long battle that Kevin McCarthy faced in January.
It took McCarthy 15 votes to win the speakership, only to lose the position when eight Republicans joined all 208 Democrats in voting for his removal Oct. 3.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican who led the push for McCarthy’s ouster, declared to reporters that he would support Scalise, despite preferring Jordan.
But Jordan supporter Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, said he would stick with Jordan on the House floor, and several other Jordan backers followed suit in the hours after the conference vote.
“I'm not going to change my vote now or anytime soon on the House floor,” Miller, a member of the House Ag Committee, said. “So we look forward to continuing to hash these things out.”
Rep. Tom Massie, R-Ky., announced in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that he advised Scalise he wouldn't support him until he lays out a plan for avoiding another omnibus spending bill. According to Massie, Jordan had promised to support a long-term continuing resolution that would trigger a 1% across-the-board cut in government spending in 2024.
Other hardline conservatives who announced that they were withholding their support from Scalise included Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. "We had a chance to unify the party behind closed doors, but the Swamp and K Street lobbyists prevented that," Boebert said in a post on X. She didn't elaborate.
Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., said in a similar post, "I am still supporting Jordan. The country cannot afford the status quo."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., told CNN Scalise should be concentrating on his recovery from cancer instead of becoming speaker.
The parade of holdouts seemed to confirm the fears of another House Ag Republican, Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, who told Agri-Pulse after the conference vote that he supported Scalise but wasn’t confident Republicans would unite behind him.
“I think we’ve got the same problem. You had eight goofballs that don't have any loyalty at all, only to themselves,” he said, referring to the eight GOP colleagues who supported McCarthy’s removal.
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Another Scalise supporter, Oklahoma GOP Rep. Frank Lucas, who chairs the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, suggested it could be several days before Scalise is ready for the floor vote.
He “will need to do some head counting, verify some things and let the intensity and the emotions of the moment chill out just a little bit,” Lucas said.
Rep. Jodey Arrington, a Texas Republican who chairs the House Budget Committee, indicated the floor voting could take several rounds.
“It is my estimation that 90% of those who supported Mr. Jordan will come over to support Scalise. I am not naive to think that we will get all of them in the first vote,” Arrington said. “But if you go to the floor and you have an open process, I think we will winnow that group down to where we get to 217 in a matter of one or two more rounds.”
Lucas, a former House Ag chairman, said getting past the speakership election could eventually make it possible for the House Ag Committee to move a new farm bill. House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., has said the committee is not going to consider a draft bill until he’s assured of floor time.
“Now as we get back to functioning and focusing and working, Chairman Thompson and the committee will have a chance to maybe do something,” Lucas said.
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