After securing the nomination for House Speaker, Republican Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA) has been working hard to gather more support and consensus within the party, holding private meetings with GOP lawmakers.
Scalise’s approach, however, has come under fire from fellow Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who criticized the closed-door nature of these meetings. She instead advocated for a process involving floor votes, mirroring the 15 rounds that outgoing House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had to go through.
The Gateway Pundit reported earlier that Rep. Steve Scalise is unlikely to secure the 217 votes needed to become the next Speaker of the House. Party insiders told Newsmax that the Louisiana congressman is expected to drop out of the race as early as today.
BREAKING: Newsmax reports that Rep. Steve Scalise will likely not be able to secure 217 votes and is expected to drop out of the race for Speaker of the House. pic.twitter.com/8nTDfER2Zq
— ALX (@alx) October 12, 2023
The Gateway Pundit reported earlier Thursday that at least seven Republicans have publicly stated they will vote for Jordan on the House floor.
Voting for someone other than Scalise: 8
- Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) — voting for Rep. Jim Jordan
- Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) — voting for Rep. Jim Jordan
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) — voting for Rep. Jim Jordan
- Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) — voting for Rep. Jim Jordan
- Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) — voting for Rep. Jim Jordan
- Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) — voting for Rep. Jim Jordan
- Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) — voting for Rep. Jim Jordan
- Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) — voting for Rep. Kevin McCarthy
Not yet supporting Scalise and undecided: 6
- Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO)
- Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX)
- Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)
- Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX)
- Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN)
- Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH)
On Thursday afternoon, Scalise held close-door meetings with lawmakers to rally more support.
According to NBC News, Scalise described the meetings as “very constructive,” lasting two and a half hours. He emphasized the need for in-person discussions to address a myriad of concerns raised by members of the Republican Party. Scalise’s strategy involves not just individual or small group meetings, but collective conversations that can “bring our conference together.”
“Obviously issues have come up over the last week about the whole process of how we get our conference back on track,” Scalise told reporters.
“But then individually, people have had questions, and I felt it would be much better if we did it in full view, where it’s not individually where people don’t think that there are side deals going on where everybody can see as Republicans talking amongst ourselves what those issues are.”
However, not everyone in the party is on board with Scalise’s strategy. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized the behind-the-scenes nature of these meetings and pushed for a more public, floor vote approach to selecting the House Speaker.
“It’s absurd to go conference after conference. We represent the people. I think it’s the right thing to do for the American people. Kevin McCarthy had to go 15 rounds. The next speaker should be able to do the same thing,” Greene said.
‘That’s my message to the conference today: let’s stop doing meetings where we have to check our cell phones. I’m not checking my cell phone. I’m not a 14-year-old. I don’t leak to you guys out here. You all already know that. I think we need to act like adults and be representatives and get on the House board,” she added.
When asked what concerns her most, Greene said, “He is battling cancer. My father died of cancer, and I have great compassion for him for that. We have a president right now that clearly has dementia. We have Chuck Schumer, who’s 80 years old, is the Democrat leader in the Senate. We have Mitch McConnell, who looks like he has many strokes on camera, over 80 years old in the Senate. We need a strong fighter for the speaker of the House and the Republican Party, and this is how the American people feel.”
“I wish him the best. I want him to recover, but I want his full energy and efforts to focus on that, and I think that’s the right thing to do. Concerns about his health,” Greene said.
Meanwhile, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) publicly affirmed his support for Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA) as the GOP nominee for Speaker of the House.
Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Jordan stated unequivocally that Scalise is the “speaker designee” and that he will personally “work to get members behind him,” NBC News reported.
