Republican Steve Scalise ended his bid to become House speaker late Thursday after hardline holdouts refused to back the party's nominee, throwing the GOP majority into deeper chaos with the chamber unable to function.
Scalise told GOP colleagues at a closed-door evening meeting of his decision and pointedly declined to announce backing for anyone else, including his chief rival, Rep. Jim Jordan, the far-right Judiciary Committee chairman backed by Donald Trump who had already told colleagues he no longer would seek the job.
He said he would push quickly for a resolution. “But it wasn't going to happen. It wasn't going to happen today. It wasn't going to happen tomorrow. It needs to happen soon, but I've withdrawn my name,” he said. “I just think the conference as a whole has to figure out their problems, solve it and select the leader,” he said.
But Scalise would have needed 217 votes to reach a majority in a floor battle with Democrats. The chamber is narrowly split 221-212, with two vacancies, meaning Scalise could lose just a few Republicans in the face of opposition from Democrats who will most certainly back their own leader, New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. Absences heading into the weekend could lower the majority threshold needed.
Some Republicans simply want Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., who was appointed interim speaker pro tempore, to be given greater authority to lead the House. A proposal was floated for just that earlier Thursday by the conservative but pragmatic Republican Governance Group of lawmakers.“I'm a freshman caught up in this maelstrom,” said Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo. “We're a ship without a rudder right now. And I'm thoroughly disappointed in the process.
“We need to come together and support Steve,” Jordan, R-Ohio, told reporters before the midday closed session.Handfuls of hard-liners announced they were sticking with Jordan, McCarthy or someone other than Scalise.
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