Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a Scalise supporter, said he was worried about the 3 p.m. Easter time floor vote.
Jim Jordan Loses Speaker Nomination in Closely Contested Vote
House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana has won the House Republican Conference’s nomination for the speaker.
Scalise received 113 votes against 99 for House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who had the backing of former President Donald Trump, according to CNN.
Wednesday’s vote was a secret ballot.
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“Long live Speaker Scalise,” Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida said after the vote was over, according to The New York Times. Gaetz was among eight Republicans who sided with Democrats to oust McCarthy.
A floor vote of the full House comes next. In order for Scalise to succeed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, he will need 217 votes.
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Rep. Steve Scalise has been selected by the GOP conference as the nominee for Speaker of the House
If he wins on the floor, he will be the first Speaker to survive a shooting by an Anti-Trump, Bernie Sanders supporter. pic.twitter.com/hXbCpMNrmR
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 11, 2023
That means almost all of those who support Jordan would need to turn around and support Scalise, along with most of the nine House Republicans who did not vote. There are currently 221 Republicans in the House, along with 212 Democrats, according to the House Press Gallery.
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Chances of that taking place became slimmer when, after the members emerged, Republican Rep. Max Miller of Ohio — a Jordan supporter — said he will not vote for Scalise on the floor.
“I’m not switching my vote. I’m Jim Jordan all the way,” he said, according to the Times.
Will Scalise be a better Speaker than McCarthy?
“Well, leader Scalise won, and it’s not over. I’m still throwing my support behind Jim Jordan for speaker, I’m not going to change my vote now or any time soon on the House floor,” he said, according to CNN.
Miller said a proposed rules change to require 217 votes to be nominated should have taken place.
“I completely agree, and that’s why we should have had 217 votes in that room to unify behind one person, and we don’t have that,” he said.
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Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania would not telegraph his floor vote, according to The Washington Post.
“We have to quit having this place run the way it was run,” he said, in speaking of Scalise moving up from majority leader to speaker.
Although Jordan made no public comments immediately after the vote, Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee quoted him as saying, “We need to get to 217 and we need to have a plan.”
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“We needed a full-throated endorsement” of Scalise from Jordan, he said.
“I did not hear that and that’s concerning,” he said.
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