In a 113-99 vote on Wednesday, House Republicans chose Steve Scalise over Jim Jordan as their candidate for speaker of the House.
By secret ballot, 113 members voted for Scalise, 99 for Jordan, eight for others, and three members did not participate in the poll. According to sources, Scalise is having trouble securing the 217 votes he will need to win the speakership when the whole House votes, thus ABC News has been informed that the vote for speaker will probably not take place on Wednesday.
Scalise thanked his coworkers for choosing him to be the following speaker.
“I want to express my gratitude to my House Republican colleagues for appointing me as speaker. Naturally, there is still work to be done; we must go upstairs to the House floor to address this before the House can reopen, Scalise added.
The timetable of a floor vote on the speakership is still unknown, and Scalise did not indicate that it will take place on Wednesday.
We need to do a lot of work, he remarked. “We need to ensure that sure we’re sending a message to the public all throughout the world, that the House is open to handling the people’s business.”
According to Scalise, passing a bipartisan resolution supporting Israel will be the first item on the agenda whenever he assumes the speakership. He said that the House would consider spending legislation to fund the government, seek to revive the economy and deal with the border situation under his leadership.
Despite the fact that Jordan intends to vote for Scalise on the floor and is urging his colleagues to do the same, numerous sources told ABC News that it is still unclear whether enough of his supporters will do the same for Scalise in a vote on the House floor.
“I think it’s crucial to come together & I’ve offered to nominate, to nominate Steve on the House floor,” Jordan stated to ABC News.
It’s time to work together, Jordan tells the holdouts.
Jordan mentioned the Israeli war and said that it was important for the House of Representatives to reconvene so that a Speaker of the House could be elected. “It’s critical that the House of Representatives resume its regular operations. Steve is the right candidate to be the speaker we need.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who backed Jordan, was evasive when asked how she would vote by Rachel Scott of ABC News.
“Are you gonna support Scalise?” Scott queried.
We’ll see you at three, said Luna.
Scott clarified, “That’s not a yes,” and Luna repeated, “We’ll see you at 3 p.m.”
Supporters of Scalise concurred that it’s conceivable the Louisiana Republican lacks the votes he requires.
“I would have preferred to hear a loud, ‘Let’s support the victor’.” Rep. Don Bacon stated, “I didn’t exactly hear that today.
Bacon noted that there are “eight demonstrated people that are not committed to the team at all, only to themselves” in reference to the eight Republicans who voted with Democrats to remove former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, saying that the conference has “the same problem” obtaining enough votes for a speakership.
“I just hope Steve will be sure he can count up 217 votes prior to going on the floor,” said Bacon.
Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Oklahoma, declared his candidacy for House majority leader shortly after the vote, hoping to fill the void left by Scalise’s selection as speaker. Here is the head of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conference in the GOP, and had briefly considered running for speaker.
One Republican lawmaker, Max Miller, declared he would continue to support Jordan on the floor even though the previous president Donald Trump had backed him for the speakership. The vote on the floor might require several rounds if additional members support Miller, possibly resembling what McCarthy experienced in January.