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Republicans appeared no closer to electing House speaker late Thursday, as Congressman Steve Scalise struggled to drum up party-wide support for his replacement as Kevin McCarthy .
Scalise, the House majority leader from Louisiana, won the party’s nomination in a secret vote on Wednesday, defeating Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan 113 to 99 in a closed-door vote.
But more than 24 hours later, Scalise’s bid for speaker was in doubt as he struggled to win over enough of his colleagues to win election to the House, where Democrats would also vote.
If Scalise wants to win the full House vote, he will need to win over nearly all of Jordan’s 99 colleagues. But as of Thursday evening, as many as 20 lawmakers had publicly said they would not support the Louisiana congressman and questioned his ability to unite the party.
“Time is of the essence. There’s not much time left,” McCarthy, who was dramatically ousted as speaker last week, told reporters Thursday.
McCarthy has yet to formally endorse his successor. But in recent days, several of his allies have rallied around Jordan’s candidacy. On Thursday, he expressed doubts about Scalise’s bid for the speaker’s gavel.
“It’s possible. But it’s a big mountain,” McCarthy said.
The election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives requires a simple majority. With Republicans narrowly controlling the House and Democrats showing no willingness to support Republican candidates, Scalise cannot afford to lose the support of a handful of his Republican colleagues.
The standoff exposed deepening divisions within Capitol Hill Republicans, more than a week after Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz led an eight-member insurrection in an attempt to oust McCarthy from the speakership.
But the impasse also has implications for America’s political leadership, as the House is unable to legislate without a speaker — a situation that threatens future U.S. funding for Ukraine or support for Israel as the U.S. grapples with last weekend’s Deadly attacks by Hamas.
Washington also faces the possibility of another government shutdown in just over a month, with a short-term deal reached by McCarthy and Democrats last month set to expire in mid-November. If a new funding deal is not reached in time, millions of federal workers could be furloughed, halting all but essential government services.
Scalise was still fighting for votes on Capitol Hill Thursday, speaking to Republican groups and meeting individually with some members. But many Republicans say they will still vote for Jordan in the House vote.
Jordan failed to defeat Scalise earlier this week despite the support of former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination.
Trump weighed in on the speaker’s race again on Thursday, saying in an interview on Fox News Radio that while he liked “both men” very much, he was concerned about Scalise’s health.
The Louisiana congressman, who was being treated for blood cancer, nearly died six years ago when he was shot by a left-wing activist at a congressional baseball game.
“He has a very serious form of cancer. And, you know, more than anything, I want Steve to recover, I just don’t know how you do the job when you recover – that’s a serious problem,” Trump said.
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