Steve Scalise, the nominee to lead the US House of Representatives, yesterday faced a test of whether he could gain enough support from Republicans to be elected speaker on the chamber floor.
A day after he bested US Representative Jim Jordan for the nomination in a secret party ballot, the Louisiana representative had not yet proven whether he could muster the 217 Republican votes needed to overcome Democratic opposition and be elected to the role second in line to the US presidency, after the vice president.
“When we go to the floor, there’ll be at least a relatively high expectation on the part of Steve Scalise and his team that he’s got the votes,” US Representative John Duarte said.
Photo: Reuters
Republican leaders initially scheduled a House meeting for Wednesday afternoon, should Scalise, now the No. 2 House Republican, quickly come up with the votes for election.
However, no vote was held.
Jordan planned to vote for Scalise and encouraged his fellow Republicans to do the same, said a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
US Representative Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker last week.
In January, McCarthy endured 15 floor votes over four days before winning the gavel.
Asked how long it could take to fill the speaker vacancy, US Representative Richard Hudson told reporters: “No idea.”
Scalise, 58, survived a severe gunshot wound after a man opened fire during practice for a charity baseball game in 2017.
He faces new health concerns as he undergoes treatment for blood cancer, which some Jordan supporters cited as a reason not to vote for him.
“I like Steve Scalise, and I like him so much that I want to see him defeat cancer more than sacrifice his health in the most difficult position in Congress,” US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X.
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