Scalise’s Bid for Speaker Endangered by Dissent in GOP Ranks

The House has failed to elect a new speaker, with multiple GOP members refusing to support their party’s nominee for the job, Congressman Steve Scalise, and several Republicans telling the Sun that they are unsure when the floor vote for Mr. Scalise’s — or anyone else’s — accession to the speakership will take place. Mr. Scalise’s rival for the Republican speakership nomination, Congressman Jim Jordan, secured 99 votes to Mr. Scalise’s 113, according to Congressman Darrell Issa. In the floor vote with the entire House voting, the Louisiana congressman can afford to lose only four members. Based on conversations the Sun had with members at the Capitol on Wednesday, Mr. Scalise may be unable to reach the requisite 217 “aye” votes. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert tells the Sun that she will be voting for Mr. Jordan on the floor, as will Congressman Max Miller. Congressman Carlos Gimenez, shortly after emerging from the closed-door meeting Wednesday, told reporters he would vote for the ousted speaker, Congressman Kevin McCarthy. Congresswoman Nancy Mace tells the Sun that “it will never be Steve Scalise” sitting behind President Biden during a State of the Union. She estimated that there are “between 12 and 20 members” who will not back the congressman, no matter what promises he makes. “I think it could either be a Jim Jordan or consensus type of candidate like Patrick McHenry,” Ms. Mace told the Sun after being asked who — if not Mr. Scalise — could win 217 votes. “I think trust is an issue” with the majority leader, she said. Congressman Chip Roy, who backed Mr. Jordan for the speakership during the conference meeting on Wednesday, spent hours inside the speaker’s office with Mr. Scalise and other leading Republicans. Mr. Roy said plainly that he was frustrated that Mr. Scalise decided to call a vote on the House floor for the speakership just 90 minutes after he had won the nomination, and trust had to be rebuilt in order to win his vote. He tells the Sun that he takes issue with the “process” of Mr. Scalise’s leadership style, including large spending packages being sprung on rank-and-file members and a lack of transparency in the leadership’s decision-making. For the time being, Mr. Roy says he plans to vote for Mr. Jordan on the House floor. One veteran lawmaker, Congressman Steve Womack, said he hopes the vote will happen Thursday, but says it is far from a guarantee given Mr. Scalise’s hemorrhaging of support. One of the eight members who voted to oust Mr. McCarthy, Congressman Tim Burchett, tells the Sun that he has no idea when the vote might happen — a sentiment senior Republicans share. “Oh, who knows,” Mr. Burchett said as he walked to the House floor. Congressman Ryan Zinke, when asked by the Sun when the vote might take place, simply let out a large sigh and shrugged.On Wednesday, shortly after Mr. Scalise was made the GOP speaker nominee, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene said she could not support him as speaker because of his cancer diagnosis. “I just voted for Jim Jordan for Speaker on a private ballot in conference, and I will be voting for Jim Jordan on the House floor,” the congresswoman said on X. “I like Steve Scalise, and I like him so much that I want to see him defeat cancer more than sacrifice his health in the most difficult position in Congress.”Another GOP member, Congresswoman Marianette Miller-Meeks, tells the Sun that Mr. Scalise is more than prepared to do the job: “As a medical doctor, I would say that he would not have run for the position had he and his wife and his doctors discussed the role of speaker, which is multifaceted.”Ms. Miller-Meeks also said she did not know when the vote might take place. Congresswoman Anna Paulina-Luna, who came out against Mr. Scalise’s candidacy on Wednesday, tells the Sun that she is not a member of the “never Scalise” camp, like some of her conservative colleagues. Ms. Luna spoke with the Sun as she walked to Mr. Scalise’s office at the Capitol from the House floor, saying there are a number of “stipulations” that must be met if Mr. Scalise wants her support on the floor. That includes “defunding” Special Counsel Jack Smith and immediately bringing articles of impeachment against President Biden to the floor. She later emerged from the speaker’s office — which Mr. McCarthy has yet to vacate — to say she would be backing Mr. Scalise, but only after he allegedly told her that she could “aggressively” investigate the Biden family. She refused to elaborate.

Scalise’s Bid for Speaker Endangered by Dissent in GOP Ranks

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