Scalise Withdraws From House Speaker’s Race, Jordan Nominated To Take His Place As GOP Chaos Escalates

On Thursday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) dropped out of the race to replace Kevin McCarthy as the House speaker after Republicans failed to garner enough support for his candidacy.

“I just shared with my colleagues that I’m withdrawing my name as a candidate for the speaker designee,” he told reporters.

Just a day earlier, the GOP conference had chosen him over Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) with 113 votes.

On Friday afternoon, the GOP conference voted for Jordan to be their next nominee as speaker, though his fate seems similarly in doubt.

This development shows that Republicans remain deeply divided over their choice for the new speaker, following McCarthy’s historic ouster earlier this month.

Emphasizing the importance of electing a new speaker, Scalise said, “I was very clear we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs. This country is counting on us to come back together. This House of Representatives needs a speaker, and we need to open up the House again.”

Scalise told House Republicans in a private meeting in the Capitol’s basement that he was no longer interested in running for the post. On Wednesday, he won a narrow majority of the GOP conference in a secret ballot election, but he did not have enough votes to secure a majority in the full House.

He needed at least 217 votes in case all members were in attendance and voting. To achieve this goal, he held meetings with Republicans who were skeptical about his nomination in a bid to address their concerns, but he was unsuccessful in earning enough support.

The House is currently without a fully functioning speaker, and this is likely to continue for the next few days given the uncertainty. With divisions among the GOP conference, any Republican attempting to get the nomination will face challenges.