Scalise Races to Shore Up Support for Speakership Ahead of Floor Vote

Mr. Scalise inherited the problem faced by former Speaker McCarthy whose tenure was plagued by infighting as a small number of holdouts wielded great leverage.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) speaks with reporters after being nominated as House Speaker in Washington on Oct. 11, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) first act as the Republican nominee for speaker was to postpone the election in the House of Representatives.

The Republican conference nominated Mr. Scalise on Oct. 11, less than two hours ahead of a scheduled floor vote that would pit Mr. Scalise against Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

However, Mr. Scalise’s true opponent is not the Democratic nominee, since Democrats lack the votes to elect their nominee.

To go from Republican nominee to Speaker of the House, Mr. Scalise must win over resisters within his own conference who have announced their intention to carry on the battle to elect Mr. Scalise’s opponent for the party’s nomination, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

That resistance is formidable given the balance of power in the House, where Republicans hold a slim majority.

As the speaker nominee, Mr. Scalise has inherited the problem faced by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), whose tenure was plagued by infighting as a small number of opponents wielded outsized leverage over their Republican colleagues.

First Vote Pulled

Mr. Scalise encountered the McCarthy problem almost immediately upon accepting the nomination, as his first action was to postpone the scheduled speaker election.

Mr. Scalise indirectly acknowledged the need to shore up support within his own party in public remarks to the press shortly after his nomination.

“Obviously, we still have work to do,” Mr. Scalise said. “We have to go upstairs on the House floor and resolve this, and get the House open again.”

The full House was scheduled to hold a speaker election at 3:00 p.m., but that timing was met with resistance by fellow Republicans.

“The House GOP should NOT have called a vote at 3:00 p.m. after finishing the [nominating] vote at 1:30 p.m. in Conference. That is unacceptable and purposeful,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) wrote on X. Mr. Roy had supported Mr. Jordan’s nomination and said he would not be voting for Mr. Scalise.

The vote was canceled an hour later, Mr. Scalise’s first acquiescence to a minority faction within the Republican conference.

Small Numbers, Big Impact

Republicans hold 221 of 435 House seats with two vacancies. That means the GOP must maintain near unanimity in order to get anything done. Just five Republican holdouts can block any action by the majority, including the election of a speaker.

Over the last nine months, a small group of resisters—not always the same ones—used that leverage to block Mr. McCarthy on more than one occasion.

That began with his election in January, which went on for 15 ballots until the would-be speaker apparently made concessions to the dozen or so holdouts who refused to vote for him.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) listens to floor proceedings in the House Chamber during the fourth day of elections for speaker of the House, on Jan. 6, 2023. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A relatively small number of Republicans were able to block some legislation from coming to the floor, including the $868 defense appropriations bill when first presented.

Just eight Republicans, joined by 208 Democrats, overruled the vast majority of their conference by ousting Mr. McCarthy from the speakership on Oct. 3.

Mr. Scalise has won the votes of some who consistently resisted Mr. McCarthy, including Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).

Others have withheld their support from the Republican nominee.

“I’m voting for Jim Jordan,” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) told reporters curtly on exiting the nominating conference.

Freshman Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) also said he would refuse to support Mr. Scalise. “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,” Mr. Miller told reporters on Oct. 11.

“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,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wrote on X shortly after the nominating vote.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) told reporters he still supported Mr. Jordan, and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) made a statement to that effect on X. Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) announced on X that he would not support Mr. Scalise “absent a further discussion.”

Like Mr. McCarthy before him, Mr. Scalise must now work to win over holdouts within his own conference in order to claim the speakership, let alone be effective in it.

Voice of Experience

Mr. McCarthy defined the problem for the next speaker, as he sees it, in working with the current Congress.

“The challenge here is that we have a small group of members within our conference that partnered all with Democrats,” Mr. McCarthy said, apparently referring to the vote to vacate the chair.

“This small group also stopped us from ever bringing individual bills before and argued [about] why didn’t we bring them to the floor. They literally shut down the entire floor in one week,” Mr. McCarthy continued. “I’m not quite sure what they want. They better decide which they’re going to go.”

Asked if he had any specific advice for the next speaker, Mr. McCarthy said, “Do what is right.”

Joseph Lord and Ryusuke Abe contributed to this report.