Republican Steve Scalise ended his bid to become House speaker after failing to secure the votes to win the gavel.
Scalise revealed his decision to Republican colleagues in a closed-door meeting Thursday night.
Next steps are uncertain as the House is largely shut down while Republicans try to elect a speaker after ousting Kevin McCarthy.
“I just shared with my colleagues that I will be withdrawing my name as the speaker’s nominee,” Scalise said as he emerged from a closed-door meeting at the Capitol.
Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, said the Republican majority “still needs to come together, but it’s not there yet.”
He had been desperately seeking votes after winning the nomination from a majority of his colleagues, but after two days of hours of private meetings at the Capitol that lasted into the night, it became clear that lawmakers were refusing to support him.
“There are still people who have their own agenda,” Scalise said. “I’m very clear that we have to get everyone to put their own agenda aside and focus on the needs of this country.”
Frustration grew as the crisis deepened and Republicans lost another day without a House speaker. Scalise sought to take away more than 100 votes, mostly from those who supported his primary rival, Rep. Jim JordanThe Judiciary Committee chairman, favored by hardliners, announced he would no longer run and cast his vote for Scalise.
But many hardliners took a cue from Donald Trump and began a long fight to replace him. McCarthy after his historic dismissal. They believe Majority Leader Scalise is not a better choice, that he should focus on his health while battling cancer, and that he is not a leader they would support. No House vote is scheduled.
“We’re going to get this done,” Scalise said earlier after a closed-door meeting at the Capitol.
Scalise said he accepted every issue raised and promised to address the issues raised during the two-hour meeting. But there’s no easy ending in sight.
“Time is of the essence,” McCarthy said as he arrived at the Capitol on Thursday.
Asked if it was still possible for Scalise to find enough support, McCarthy said: “It’s possible, but it’s a big mountain.”
The House is entering its second week without a speaker and is largely unable to function, with Republicans facing growing political pressure to reverse course, reassert majority control and govern in Congress.
Action is needed to fund the government or face the threat of a federal shutdown in a month’s time. Lawmakers also wanted Congress to issue a strong statement in support of Israel’s war with Hamas, but the bipartisan resolution was stalled amid gridlock in the House. The White House is expected to raise funds soon to backfill Israeli, Ukrainian and U.S. weapons stockpiles.
The situation is not entirely different from earlier this year, when McCarthy faced a similar backlash from a variety of groups. Far-right die-hards They ultimately voted him speaker and then engineered his historic downfall.
But this time the math was even more daunting. Scalise, considered a hero by some colleagues for surviving a shooting of lawmakers during a 2017 congressional baseball game practice, won the closed-door Republican vote 113 to 99. But McCarthy, a California Republican, noted that longtime rival Scalise had said he would get 150 votes behind closed doors but fell short of that goal.
Scalise needs 217 votes to gain a majority, which may be needed in a floor fight with Democrats. The House is narrowly divided 221 to 212, with two vacancies, meaning Scalise could lose some Republicans in the face of opposition from Democrats who are sure to back their leader, New York State Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. Weekend absences may lower the required majority threshold.
Angry Democrats have been watching and waiting for the Republican majority to recover from McCarthy’s ouster, urging them to address the issue and warning the world is watching.
“House Republicans need to end the Republican civil war now,” Jeffries said.
“House Democrats continue to make clear that we are ready, willing and able to find a bipartisan path forward,” he said, urging the House to reopen and change Republican-dominated rules that allow a single lawmaker to initiate the process. Process to remove the speaker.
With Congress idle, Republicans spent the second day behind closed doors, arguing and airing their displeasure but failing to follow their party rules and unite behind the nominee.
Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw said the meetings were marked by “emotional” opposition to voting for Scalise.
“This is not to take it personally, but unfortunately I see it all the time,” he said.
Some Republicans simply took the Chick-fil-A lunch away.
Jordan, a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus who has been endorsed by Trump in his bid for speaker, has announced that he does not plan to continue running for the leadership position.
“We need to come together to support Steve,” Jordan, an Ohio Republican, told reporters before a closed-door meeting.
It was the most outspoken endorsement yet from Jordan, who had earlier offered to be on the floor to deliver a nomination speech for his rival and privately told lawmakers he would vote for Scalise and encouraged his colleagues to do the same. Do it.
But that wasn’t enough to sway the die-hards.
A handful of hardliners announced they would support someone other than Jordan, McCarthy or Scalise.
Texas Republican Rep. Troy Niles reiterated his support for Trump as speaker; the position does not need to be held by a member of Congress.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, repeatedly discussed Scalise’s health in a radio interview that aired Thursday.
“Well, I like Steve. I like both of them very much. But the thing is, you know, Steve is a guy who’s in serious trouble from a cancer perspective,” Trump told the Fox News host. Ryan Kilmeade said on his radio show.
Scalise has being diagnosed with a type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma and is receiving treatment.
“I think in either case, it’s going to be very difficult for someone,” Trump said. “And then you get into one of those crazy impasses. It’s a very interesting situation.”
Otherwise, Trump is expected to take a hands-off approach to intra-Republican battles once Scalise becomes the nominee instead of his choice of Jordan, said a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Many Republicans want to avoid chaotic scenes on the House floor, like the grueling brawl that took place in January when McCarthy was sworn in as speaker.
But others say it’s time for Republicans to vote behind closed doors.
“Stop delaying,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said on social media. “If Kevin McCarthy has to go 15 rounds, the next speaker should be able to do the same and even more if necessary.”
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