"It makes us look like a bunch of idiots": House GOP set to end Week 2 with no Speaker as Scalise withdraws
Majority leader backs out a day after being nominated
The Capitol Hill chaos continues.
House Republicans are now wrapping up Week 2 without a Speaker after Majority Leader Steve Scalise turned down his conference’s nomination Thursday night.
This comes just a day after the Louisiana lawmaker had narrowly won the nomination over Judiciary committee chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio. But in just a matter of hours, it was clear that he was well short of the votes needed to win the gavel on the House floor. Several Republican hardliners, including Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene and Andrew Clyde, said that they would not be voting for Scalise.
He says he will continue to serve as House Republicans’ second-in-command. Jordan, who had been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, began making calls about another speakership bid Thursday night. It is unclear if anyone will challenge him, nor is it clear if he or any other Republican has enough votes to be elected Speaker.
This new development leaves Congress at a standstill and the fractious GOP majority in chaos following last week’s historic ousting of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Members are growing increasingly frustrated at the dysfunction.
Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, a Scalise supporter, did not mince words: “It makes us look like a bunch of idiots,” the Tifton Republican told CNN’s Manu Raju. Rep. Mike Collins, another Georgian, joked about the Atlanta Braves’ playoff loss: “Phillies fan looking to be speaker? Lose my number.”
Meanwhile, Democrats and even some Republicans believe that these far-right members are begging to be in the minority after next November. “Competence is clearly on the ballot,” texted one Georgia Democrat about the stakes in next year’s elections. “And if voters actually want […] a government, the choice is clear.”
With the House still without a Speaker and no end to the GOP infighting in sight, some are saying that Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, McCarthy’s hand-picked temporary speaker, should be given more powers so that Congress can address several major issues. The House is unable to orderly conduct business without a Speaker.
Members are eager to send aid to Israel in their war with Hamas terrorists, and lawmakers must once again pass a funding agreement to keep the government open. McCarthy’s short-term agreement, his last act as Speaker, only funds the government through November.
But as some members point out, there is no precedent for an unelected leader to be given so much power. “We are in uncharted waters, but it’s also very clear that we do not want to have a speaker pro-tem who is leading policy. That’s not the role,” one Republican told the AP. “But there is also not a need for the American people’s voice to be silenced because Congress can’t function.”
Some House lawmakers were spotted leaving town for the weekend Thursday night.