House scrambled to find a new speaker on Friday, after Steve Scalise, the majority leader, abruptly dropped out of the race. Two candidates, Jim Jordan of Ohio and Austin Scott of Georgia, formally declared bids as the conference prepared to meet again. Without a speaker, the House remains paralyzed, unable to take up legislation including approving aid for Israel following the attacks by Hamas, a priority for many Republicans. Scalise, from Louisiana, announced his decision to drop out on Thursday, following a meeting in which it became clear he had no path to securing the 217 votes any winner would need. “There are still some people that have their own agendas,” Scalise said. “And I was very clear: we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs. This country is counting on us to come back together. This needs a speaker, and we need to open up the House again.” The conference met again on Friday morning, seeking to determine whether Jordan, the judiciary committee chair, a hard-right bomb-thrower and a leading supporter of
Donald Trump, the presidential frontrunner, could cobble together enough votes to become speaker. Jordan finished second to Scalise in a vote held on Wednesday, winning 99 backers. By Friday, it was still not clear he could assuage the concerns of more moderate
Republicans and thereby secure their votes. Warning signs appeared on Thursday evening when a Scalise ally, Ann Wagner of Missouri, she was a “non-starter” on Jordan. From outside Congress, Liz Cheney, the former Wyoming congresswoman from an influential
Republican family suggested the conference would make a dangerous mistake if it elected Jordan. “Jim Jordan was involved in Trump’s conspiracy to steal the
election and seize power; he urged that [then vice-president Mike] Pence refuse to count lawful electoral votes,” Cheney, who was vice-chair of the January 6 committee, on
Social Media. “If [Republicans] nominate Jordan to be speaker, they will be abandoning the constitution. They’ll lose the House majority and they’ll deserve to.” Scott, 53 and the longest-serving House Republican from Georgia, if with a strikingly low profile in Washington, offered himself as a relatively moderate alternative to Jordan. “We are in
Washington to legislate, and I want to lead a House that functions in the best interest of the
American people,” he wrote on social media. In January 2021, in the aftermath of the deadly attack on
Congress by Trump supporters, Scott was not among the (and eight senators) who voted to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory. He also rejected the move to eject Kevin McCarthy last week, dismissing the who made their own speaker the first ever removed from the role by his own party as “grifters” working “in the name of their own glory and fundraising”. Elsewhere on Friday, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, widely thought a possible candidate, ruled himself of the running – “after much prayer and deliberation”. According another name widely touted in the corridors of Capitol Hill, Tom Emmer of Minnesota, was planning to stay as majority whip but could mount a challenge if Jordan could not muster the votes. As Republicans hold the House by a razor-thin majority, any candidate for speaker can only afford four defections if they are to win the gavel. Speaking to reporters, Tim Burchett of Tennessee – one of the who threw out McCarthy – claimed the conference was “very close” to electing Jordan. “There’s still some holdouts that I understand, and they need to be talked to individually,” Burchett said, adding that the conference would consider four potential rule changes which might help assuage concerns held by members. Brian Mast, from
Florida, acknowledged that Scalise’s downfall so soon after that of McCarthy had created bad blood in the party. “One of the obstacles is simply the fact that Kevin got thrown out [and] Steve wasn’t able to come to the floor,” Mast said. “Just that being the case, there’s going to be people that are upset and … possibly want to take it out on Jim just because that happened.” McCarthy, widely reported to have been at odds with Scalise, told reporters he would vote for Jordan. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina continues to serve as temporary speaker but his limited powers have left the chamber unable to work. Michael McCaul of
Texas, the chair of the foreign relations committee, warned that the standoff was sending the wrong message to foreign powers such as
Russia and
China. “It’s a dangerous game that we’re playing,” McCaul said. “It just proves our adversaries right that democracy doesn’t work. Our adversaries are watching us.” The House
Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries of
New York, continued to call on moderate Republicans to “break with the extremists” and form a bipartisan coalition. “We are ready, willing and able to do so,” Jeffries told PBS. “I know there are traditional Republicans who are good
Women and men who want to see government function but they are unable to do it within the ranks of their own conference, which is dominated by the extremist wing, and that’s why we continue to extend the hand of bipartisanship to them.” Republicans have shown no sign of entertaining that idea. Despite the chaos, though, some chose to laugh at their own mismanagement. Mike Collins, of Georgia, : “The good thing is, at the rate we’re going, I should have my turn [to try to get] 217 [votes] by
Halloween. Plenty of time to get my flyers ready.”