On Thursday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) announced that he will drop out of his bid for Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“I just shared with my colleagues, and I’m withdrawing my name as a candidate for the speaker designee,” Scalise said during his announcement.
“We still need to get a speaker, and I’m going to continue to push as hard as we can to make that happen as quickly because it has to happen,” he continued.
As reported by The Daily Wire, Scalise had defeated Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) in a secret ballot vote of 113-99 for the GOP nomination on Wednesday. Despite the withdrawal for Speaker, Scalise asserted that he would continue holding his position as House majority leader.
Meanwhile, Democrats remained united in nominating Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for Speaker.
Scalise’s announcement comes more than a week after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was voted out of his Speaker position last Tuesday. At the time, eight Republicans joined all Democrats in the vote, citing their objections to McCarthy’s leadership.
So far, Republican members have floated several names, including Jordan, for Speaker.
“I am asking members of the GOP to return to Washington so we can nominate a Speaker. Scalise is a statesman who acted truly selflessly by stepping aside. This needs to happen,” tweeted Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) on Thursday.
I am asking members of the GOP to return to Washington so that we can nominate a Speaker. Scalise is a statesman and acted in true selfless fashion by stepping aside. This needs to happen. Here are some options:
Jim Jordan
Kevin Hern
Lee Zeldin
Mark Green— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) October 13, 2023
She went on to list several names, including Jordan, Kevin Hern (R-OK), Lee Zeldin (R-NY), and Mark Green (R-TN).
At present, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) is serving as speaker pro tempore during the same week that Hamas launched a terrorist attack in Israel while the U.S. government faces a possible shutdown in mid-November.
According to Fox News, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. Has mulled for a run for Speaker despite his support for Scalise.
One GOP lawmaker told the outlet that Emmer would have been “whipping votes for our speaker candidate” if he were “running for majority leader.” Meanwhile, a second GOP lawmaker said Emmer had been “trying to position himself as the fallback due to concerns Scalise was recently diagnosed with cancer.
“Whip Emmer was one of the first people to publicly endorse Leader Scalise’s bid to become Speaker. He is focused on ensuring that happens,” Emmer’s spokesperson told Fox News Digital before Scalise stepped back.
Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., also touted the possibility of Emmer as House Speaker.
“I think he would be viable at some point,” Griffith told Fox News Digital.
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Joe Raedle / Staff
Video Courtesy: Reuters via YouTube
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for Christian Headlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
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