Republicans have chosen Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., to be their nominee for House speaker in a closed-door, secret-ballot election.
Scalise defeated House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, by a vote of 113-99. That gave Scalise a narrow majority of the Republicans' 221 votes in the chamber, but he has yet to lock up the 217 votes necessary to win on the House floor. A source with direct knowledge of the matter said Jordan plans to vote for Scalise on the House floor and is encouraging his colleagues to do the same.
Roy and Cloud were two of the three Texans who resisted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership bid in January — contributing to gridlock that forced 15 votes to take place — in order to garner more influence for their wing of the party. U.S. Rep. Keith Self, R-McKinney, the other Texas holdout during those votes, said Wednesday on social media that he voted against Scalise during a closed-door Republican conference meeting before the House-wide vote. He was unclear about how he planned to vote during a floor vote.
The House recessed Wednesday afternoon without voting on a new speaker. Republicans did not set a date for when they will vote next.
Scalise is running against House Judiciary Chair and Freedom Caucus co-founder Jim Jordan of Ohio to replace McCarthy as speaker. McCarthy was removed from his perch following a rebellion by eight far-right members, none of them Texans, who had various grievances with McCarthy. U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida led the push and said Wednesday he would support Scalise.
The narrowness of Mr Scalise's victory highlights the divisions within the party, and some lawmakers have expressed scepticism that, even now, he has the votes necessary to secure the Speaker position.
Among those still opposing him is Kentucky's Thomas Massie, who told reporters that he is a "hard no", at least in the initial vote, because of disagreements with Mr Scalise on how the budget should be handled.
Mr Massie added that he believed that at least 20 other Republicans would also vote against Mr Scalise, significantly more than the five votes he could afford to lose.
As House majority whip in 2017, Scalise was shot by a gunman in Alexandria, Va., as he was playing second base, his normal position on the congressional baseball team. The incident led to a long road to recovery: Scalise underwent multiple surgeries and blood transfusions after the bullet that struck his left hip traveled across his pelvis, fracturing bones, injuring internal organs and causing severe bleeding.
In August of this year, Scalise said he'd been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a "very treatable blood cancer" for which he has begun treatment. "I have now begun treatment, which will continue for the next several months," he said on X.
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