Steve Scalise drops out of Speaker race

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), realizing he couldn’t get enough votes to be House Speaker, dropped out of contention last night.

Steve Scalise hits the bricks

Steve Scalise, as House Majority Leader, expected to “move up” to the Speakership to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). But the House Republican Conference nominated him by a slim seven-vote margin. Cullen Linebarger (The Gateway Pundit) reported last night that Scalise withdrew, as many expected him to do all day. He read a prepared statement portraying his Conference as fractured and taking a dig at the eight Republicans who created the vacancy in the Speakership that has occasioned this drama. The Forbes YouTube channel published this three-minute video of his remarks:

McCarthy lost his Speakership after Rep. Matt Gaetz’ (R-Fla.) “motion to vacate the chair” came to a vote last week. Eight Republicans, including Gaetz, voted with every Democrat present to affirm Gaetz’ motion. At the end of his statement, Steve Scalise spoke of people acting “for themselves and their own personal interests.” He also said – mysteriously – that those “[having] their own personal interests in mind shouldn’t be interested in Democrats.” That could easily construe as a threat.

Politico.com broke the story, and also reported an “expectation” that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will run for Speaker again. The contest for the Speaker had earlier come down to Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, and Donald J. Trump. Trump declined any consideration of him for the Speakership, and endorsed Jordan. (Whether the Speaker of the House must always be a Member of the House, is actually debatable. But the House has never before chosen a non-Member as Speaker.)

What next?

Eight Republicans – not all the same eight who voted to oust McCarthy – adamantly refused to vote for Steve Scalise. Some said so on X, Telegram, and other social media. According to Politico.com, many fellow Members expected Scalise to keep trying and were confident of his eventual victory.

Politico.com did not say who among House Republicans was thinking that way. Similarly the authors wrote of “expectations” that the Conference will “pivot to Jordan.” But apparently some Conferees wonder whether Jordan will meet similarly adamant opposition. (Whether the same people who expressed “private doubts” that Jordan would get the votes, in fact plan to vote for “anybody but Jordan” on the floor, is not clear. One of the eight Republicans who voted against Steve Scalise, voted to reinstate McCarthy.) And still more unnamed Members are looking for a dark-horse candidate, as one may infer from Politico’s prose.