Steve Scalise, GOP’s Pick for Speaker, Still Has a Floor Fight Ahead

After a week of leaderless chaos in the House of Representatives, Republicans took the first step back toward normalcy on Wednesday afternoon. In a secret ballot vote of 113 to 99, Steve Scalise triumphed over Jim Jordan to secure his party’s nomination for Speaker.

Scalise’s path to victory was seen as largely cleared earlier in the day when the Republican caucus knocked down a proposed rule change that would have required either candidate to secure 217 votes before a full House vote. Instead, candidates just needed a simple majority of the conference to move forward. “We have a lot of work to do,” Scalise told reporters shortly after the vote.

Scalise’s nomination was applauded by a number of Republicans as they exited the meeting. “I say we unify as a party to get the Speaker designee elected as an official Speaker of the House,” Michael McCaul told reporters, noting the burgeoning crisis in the Middle East. “We can’t afford this dysfunction, the nation can’t afford this…. We need a Speaker in the chair. We’re in dangerous times right now.”

Even Congressman Matt Gaetz, one of the leading architects of McCarthy’s ouster, applauded Scalise’s victory. “I’m excited for him. I can’t wait to go vote for Steve Scalise,” the Florida congressman said. “Long live Speaker Scalise.” Tim Burchett, who also voted to remove McCarthy, echoed the unity message. “I’m going to vote for Scalise on the floor.” But the Speaker fight is far from over. Doubts remain that Scalise can muster enough support to actually win the gavel. Rather, Republicans are bracing for a redux of Kevin McCarthy’s drawn-out fight for the Speakership back in January, just with a different main character.

As they exited Wednesday’s vote, a number of lawmakers who cast their ballots for Jordan told reporters they planned to do so again, on the House floor; Max Miller was among them. “I don’t think I’m the only member of Congress who feels this way…actually, I know I’m not the only one,” Miller said. “You’re going to see that play out on the House floor.”

When asked by reporters whether he would vote for Scalise on the floor, Jordan dodged the question. He said, “The conference is still divided,” and added that he hopes “it can come together.” (It was later reported that Jordan would back Scalise.)

The realities of any candidate’s rocky road to 217 votes was thrust into stark relief over the past few days, particularly following the candidate forum—in which both Jordan and Scalise presented their visions for the Speakership—on the eve of the conference vote. Just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday evening, the scene outside the Ways and Means Committee room in the Longworth House office building was chaotic. The media melee was three rows deep in certain spots. At various points, the sound of applause drifted out from behind the closed doors as Republicans sought to clean up a mess entirely of their own making.

Exactly one week earlier the GOP conference made history when a rogue faction of eight voted to oust McCarthy as House Speaker. The intent was to inch closer toward crowning the next House leader, but as lawmakers trickled out it appeared that House Republicans were no closer to coalescing around a McCarthy successor than they were in the immediate aftermath of the California congressman getting unceremoniously stripped of the Speaker’s gavel. “I don’t know how the hell you get to 218,” Troy Nehls told reporters as he left the meeting, referencing the vote threshold to elect the next House leader, barring any vacancies. Nehls predicted a potentially long week ahead, noting the deep divisions within the party.