Steve Scalise nominated for House speaker, GOP struggles to unite and elect him
WASHINGTON — Deeply divided Republicans nominated Rep. Steve Scalise on Wednesday to be the next House speaker but struggled to quickly unify and elect the conservative in a public floor vote after the historic ousting of Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the job. In private balloting at the Capitol, House Republicans narrowly pushed aside Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the firebrand Judiciary Committee chairman, in favor of Scalise, the current majority leader. The Louisiana congressman, who is battling blood cancer, is seen as a hero to some after surviving a shooting on lawmakers at a congressional baseball game practice in 2017. “We have a lot of work to do,” Scalise said afterward. A floor vote of the whole House was expected but then abandoned by nightfall. Tensions are still running high among Republicans and the House is at a standstill amid bitter infighting after McCarthy’s stunning removal last week. The House was gaveled into a brief session, then closed, with next steps uncertain. It’s an extraordinary moment of political chaos at a time of uncertainty at home and crisis abroad, moving into a second week without a House speaker. Just 10 months after Republicans swept to power aspiring to operate as a team and run government more like a business, the GOP majority has drifted far from that goal. “We need to make sure we’re sending a message to people all throughout the world, that the House is open to doing the people’s business,” Scalise said. What’s uncertain is whether lawmakers who supported Jordan, the hard-liner backed by Donald Trump, will throw their support to Scalise in what is sure to be a close vote of the full House. Democrats are set to oppose the Republican nominee, easily nominating their leader, New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. Jordan said little after the vote, only that the GOP majority “is divided.” But Jordan did offer to give Scalise a nominating speech on the floor, in what would be a show of support during a vote. And Jordan himself plans to vote for Scalise, and is encouraging his colleagues to do the same, said a person familiar with the private talks and granted anonymity to discuss them. A centrist leader, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said, “We do need to get a speaker in place so we can govern.” “What we should have heard today after the vote count was: ‘I will heartily support Steve. Let’s
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