Steve Scalise Withdraws From House Speaker Race
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), who's currently serving as the House Majority Leader, withdrew from the Speaker of the House race Thursday evening. The move was expected, my colleague Matt Funicello wrote, after Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) told reporters that Scalise didn't have the 217 votes needed to prevail, and that at least 20 Republicans wouldn't be voting for Scalise.
As RedState reported, Scalise was nominated by the GOP conference Wednesday, beating out Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).
The votes are in, and it appears Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) will be the new GOP nominee for Speaker of the House by a count of 113 to 99. The news comes one week after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted due to an effort led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and a group of eight Republicans and Democrats in the lower chamber.
Scalise faced competition from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who is favored by members of the conservative base. The vote totals were close, but Scalise managed to eke out the victory:
One of the 20 "no" votes on Scalise was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
Another was Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) had also pledged to only vote for Jordan. Thursday morning, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) reportedly changed her vote from Scalise to Jordan, which many saw as a signal that it would be impossible for Scalise to eventually get to the 217 vote threshold.
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