House Republicans nominate Scalise for speaker, but his confirmation remains uncertain

Oct. 11—WASHINGTON — In a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, House Republicans voted narrowly to nominate Rep. Steve Scalise to be the next House speaker, but his path to being elected was unclear on a day when Northwest GOP lawmakers expressed support for different candidates.

Scalise, a Louisianan who served as the No. 2 House Republican until Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California was ousted as speaker by GOP hardliners on Oct. 3, received 113 votes to 99 for Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, lawmakers told reporters after the secret ballots were tallied. Soon after the vote concluded, however, Rep. Russ Fulcher sent an email to his constituents reiterating his support for Jordan.

"I fully support Jim Jordan for House Speaker," Fulcher, who represents North Idaho, wrote in the email that included a video he had recorded earlier to support the Ohioan. "Jim has shown exceptional judgment, clarity, and prudence as a Member of Congress and as House Judiciary Committee Chairman. Jim has the integrity and wisdom to unify the Republican Conference, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to elect him as House Speaker."

Minutes later, Jordan said he would back Scalise, but the House recessed Wednesday afternoon without voting on the nomination. Fulcher didn't issue any further statements to clarify where he stood, but other House Republicans said they still planned to vote for Jordan — or even McCarthy — casting doubt on the GOP's ability to rally behind a single leader.

A spokesman for Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said the Spokane Republican would vote for Scalise when his nomination is brought to the House floor for a final vote. If no candidate gets a majority of votes, the process could continue for multiple rounds, as it did when McCarthy was elected in January.

"The congresswoman supports Steve Scalise to be the next Speaker of the House, and she hopes the conference will unite behind him so the House can get back to work to stand by Israel and deliver on the conservative promises made to the American people," spokesman Kyle VonEnde said in a statement.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, also threw his support behind Scalise.

"Today, I voted for Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise to be our next Speaker of the House," he said in a statement. "Rep. Scalise is a principled conservative who will carry out the duties of Speaker in a fair and just manner, and I am looking forward to supporting him again when a vote is called to the floor."

Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho Falls, declined to say how he planned to vote. Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana, one of the handful of Republicans who ousted McCarthy with the help of Democrats, said he would vote for Scalise.

Republicans hold such a slim majority that as few as five GOP holdouts can block a candidate for speaker. With no help likely to come from Democrats, that means Republicans need near unanimity to move forward.

Orion Donovan Smith's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.