Republicans Nominate Scalise for House Speaker Over Jordan

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WASHINGTON—House Republicans narrowly picked Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana as their nominee for speaker Wednesday, but he had yet to sew up enough GOP support to get elected on the House floor, leaving members bracing for final twists in the leadership fight.

In a secret ballot election, Republicans voted 113-99 to select Scalise, now the chamber’s majority leader, over Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), a fiery conservative who chairs the Judiciary Committee and was backed by former President Donald Trump.
For the second time in less than a year, the GOP was moving to fill the top House job and tamp down dissent that could derail their pick, after the dramatic ouster of Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) last week brought the chamber to a standstill.

The Republicans voted in a closed-door meeting with no cellphones allowed. The two candidates gave their formal pitches Tuesday night. While both men picked up dozens of endorsements headed into the day, many lawmakers hadn’t said how they would vote, or if they ultimately could support the other candidate.

A full House vote for speaker could come as soon as later in the day, with Rep. Tom Emmer (R., Minn.), the House GOP whip, saying it could be as early as 3 p.m. The House is split 221-212, giving Republicans little room to maneuver.

In their closed-door meeting, Republicans first blocked a proposal from GOP Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania that would have required the winning candidate to secure 217 votes—the number needed to get elected on the House floor—rather than simply have the most votes of any candidate. Allies of Scalise had been lobbying against the rules change, which was dismissed in a 135-88 vote, according to a congressional aide.
“You have to be able to whip votes on the floor,” Rep. Drew Ferguson (R., Ga.) said before the meeting. “If you can’t do that on the floor for this, then how are you going to get the votes to pass bills?”

Lawmakers want to move quickly to fill the speaker job and avoid a replay of January’s standoff, which followed a conference tally in November in which McCarthy had won 188 votes. On the floor, it took 15 rounds to elect McCarthy, only for him to be ousted nine months later. A delay in electing a new speaker could put Washington on track for a government shutdown and imperil legislation to support Israel and to provide new money for Ukraine.

Ahead of the meeting, Scalise was calling lawmakers to say he was confident that he would get the support of the GOP conference and that the floor vote would occur later Wednesday, according to one GOP aide.
“My takeaway is whoever comes out on the majority today we should get behind and get a speaker,” Rep. Don Bacon (R., Neb.) said Wednesday. He said he had been leaning toward Scalise but was impressed with Jordan’s presentation on Tuesday night.

Republicans nevertheless cautioned that they weren’t sure that their winning candidate could hit the 217-vote majority threshold needed to be elected speaker on the House floor. That points to the possibility of another contentious speaker vote, if all Democrats vote for their pick, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.).

Some lawmakers indicated they weren’t yet ready to go along with Scalise, a sign that a more protracted fight could be coming.

“If Jim Jordan does not get the majority within that room, I will go down to the House floor and continue to vote for Jim Jordan,” said Rep. Max Miller (R., Ohio) shortly before the internal vote.


Without the speakership filled, the House has been unable to vote on any legislation, because an acting speaker pro tempore is widely seen as lacking the power to put bills on the floor, given the rules governing his temporary job.

The candidate forum took place a week after eight Republicans joined with Democrats in a vote last Tuesday to oust McCarthy. Outside the Tuesday night meeting this week, McCarthy told reporters he wasn’t running and that he had told colleagues not to nominate him.

Republicans have yet to settle some key questions, such as how to ensure their nominee can get the majority needed to win election in the overall House and whether they plan to push for new spending cuts after a stopgap spending bill expires in mid-November.

Much of the focus on installing a speaker has centered on the eight Republicans who pushed out McCarthy. Jordan’s supporters have said that Jordan is best positioned to bring dissidents into the fold. They tout his history as an outsider who himself rose by bucking the system, in large part through helping found the House Freedom Caucus, a brass-knuckled group that is now the ideological home to many of the dissidents. Jordan has racked up more than 30 public endorsements.


Rep. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.), who precipitated the leadership crisis when he brought the motion to vacate to the floor, has said he would support either Scalise or Jordan. On Wednesday, Rep. Eli Crane (R., Ariz.), another of the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, said that he would support either Jordan or Scalise on the floor no matter who he voted for in conference.

Scalise’s supporters have pitched him as best positioned to unify the conference. In part, they draw on the emotional connection he built to many in the conference after coming back from a near-deadly shooting in 2017 during a congressional baseball practice.
 
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