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Steve scalise.

• Republican Party

Candidate, U.S. House Louisiana District 1

2008 - Present

Compensation

(2012) $-12,998.50

November 8, 2022

November 5, 2024

Rummel High School

Louisiana State University

Official website

Official Facebook

Official Twitter

Official Instagram

Official YouTube

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Steve Scalise ( Republican Party ) is a member of the U.S. House , representing Louisiana's 1st Congressional District . He assumed office on May 3, 2008. His current term ends on January 3, 2025.

Scalise ( Republican Party ) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Louisiana's 1st Congressional District . He declared candidacy for the primary scheduled on November 5, 2024 . [source]

Scalise was elected as House Majority Leader for the 118th Congress in November 2022. [1] He previously served as the House minority whip in the 116th Congress and the House majority whip from 2014 to 2019.

On October 4, 2023, Scalise announced he was running to replace Kevin McCarthy (R) as speaker of the U.S. House in the 118th Congress . [2] Scalise won the Republican nomination to be speaker on October 11, 2023. [3] On October 12, Scalise withdrew from the House speaker election. [4]

Scalise was first elected to the House in a 2008 special election to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Rep. Bobby Jindal (R). Prior to serving in Congress, Scalise was a member of the Louisiana State Senate in 2008 and a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1995 to 2007. [5]

On August 29, 2023, Scalise announced he had been diagnosed with blood cancer. He referred to the cancer as "very treatable" and said that he had already begun the treatment. Scalise said he did not intend to resign, nor did he think his diagnosis would interfere with his work as House Majority Leader . [6] [7]

• 1 Biography
• 3.1.1 2017-2018
• 3.1.2 2015-2016
• 3.1.3 2013-2014
• 3.1.4 2011-2012
• 4.1 Key votes: 118th Congress, 2023
• 4.2 Key votes: Previous sessions of Congress
• 4.3 Key votes: 117th Congress, 2021-2023
• 4.4 Key votes: 116th Congress, 2019-2020
• 4.5 Key votes: 115th Congress, 2017-2018
• 4.6.1.1 Trade Act of 2015
• 4.6.1.2 Defense spending authorization
• 4.6.1.3 2016 Budget proposal
• 4.6.1.4 2015 budget
• 4.6.2.1 Iran nuclear deal
• 4.6.2.2 Export-Import Bank
• 4.6.3.1 USA FREEDOM Act of 2015
• 4.6.3.2 Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act
• 4.6.3.3 Cyber security
• 4.6.4 Immigration
• 4.7 113th Congress
• 4.8.1 DHS Appropriations
• 4.8.2 Keystone Pipeline Amendment
• 4.8.3 CISPA (2013)
• 4.9.1 Farm bill
• 4.9.2 2014 Budget
• 4.9.3 Government shutdown
• 4.10.1 Morton Memos Prohibition
• 4.11.1 Healthcare Reform Rules
• 4.11.2 Keep the IRS Off Your Healthcare Act
• 4.12.1 Amash amendment
• 4.13.1 HR 676
• 4.14.1 Fiscal Cliff
• 5.1.1 Endorsements
• 5.8 Full history
• 7 Notable endorsements
• 8 Campaign finance summary
• 9.1 PGI: Change in net worth
• 9.2 PGI: Donation Concentration Metric
• 10.1 Congressional staff salaries
• 10.2 Ideology and leadership
• 10.3 Like-minded colleagues
• 10.4 Lifetime voting record
• 10.5.1 2013
• 10.5.2 2012
• 10.5.3 2011
• 10.6.1 2014
• 10.6.2 2013
• 11 Personal
• 12.1 Withdrawal as Speaker of the House nominee (2023)
• 12.2 Selection as House majority leader
• 12.3 Electoral vote certification on January 6-7, 2021
• 12.4 Decision to self-quarantine for coronavirus on March 18, 2020
• 12.5 Selection as House minority whip
• 12.6 Shooting during congressional baseball game (2017)
• 12.7 White-supremacist gathering (2014)
• 12.8 RSC fires director (2013)
• 13 See also
• 14 External links
• 15 Footnotes

Scalise was born in 1965 in New Orleans, La. , and graduated from Rummel High School. He earned his B.S. from Louisiana State University and worked as both a software engineer and a technology company marketing executive prior to his political career. [5]

Below is an abbreviated outline of Scalise's academic, professional, and political career: [5]

• 2019-Present: House Minority Whip
• 2014-2019: House Majority Whip
• 2008: Louisiana State Senate
• 1995-2007: Louisiana House of Representatives

Committee assignments

Scalise was assigned to the following committees: [Source]

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
• Communications and Technology

At the beginning of the 115th Congress , Scalise was assigned to the following committees: [8]

Scalise served on the following committees: [9]

• Subcommittee on Communications and Technology

Scalise served on the following committees: [10] [11]

• Subcommittee on Energy and Power
• Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Scalise served on the following House committees: [12]

Ballotpedia monitors legislation that receives a vote and highlights the ones that we consider to be key to understanding where elected officials stand on the issues. To read more about how we identify key votes, click here .

Key votes: 118th Congress, 2023

The 118th United States Congress began on January 3, 2023, at which point Republicans held the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives (222-212), and Democrats held the majority in the U.S. Senate (51-49). Joe Biden (D) was the president and Kamala Harris (D) was the vice president. We identified the key votes below using Congress' top-viewed bills list and through marquee coverage of certain votes on Ballotpedia.

Key votes: Previous sessions of Congress

Key votes: 116th congress, 2019-2020.

Key votes: 115th Congress, 2017-2018

Voted Yea on:  Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (Conference report) (HR 2)

Voted Yea on:  Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (HR 2 (second vote))

Voted Yea on:  Securing America’s Future Act of 2018 (HR 4760)

Voted Yea on:  Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (HR 2)

Voted Yea on:  Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (HR 36)

Did not vote on:  Kate's Law (HR 3004)

Did not vote on:  No Sanctuary for Criminals Act (HR 3003)

Voted Yea on:  American Health Care Act of 2017 (HR 1628)

Voted Yea on:  Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 (Conference report) (HR 6157)

Voted Yea on:  Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019 (Conference report) (HR 5895)

Voted Yea on:  Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 (HR 6157)

Voted Yea on:  Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019 (HR 5895)

Voted Yea on:  Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S 2155)

Voted Yea on:  Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (HR 1625)

Voted Yea on:  The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (HR 1892)

Voted Yea on:  Further Extension Of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 (HR 1892)

Voted Yea on:  Making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2018, and for other purposes. (HR 195)

Did not vote on:  Making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2018, and for other purposes. (HR 195)

Voted Yea on:  Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 (HR 1370)

Voted Yea on:  Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (HR 1)

Voted Yea on:  Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2018, and for other purposes (HJ Res 123)

Voted Yea on:  Establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2018 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2019 through 2027. (H Con Res 71)

Did not vote on:  Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act, 2018 (HR 3354)

Did not vote on:  Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2017 (Included amendments to suspend the debt ceiling and fund the government) (HR 601)

Did not vote on:  Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2017 (HR 601)

Voted Yea on:  Financial CHOICE Act of 2017 (HR 10)

Voted Yea on:  Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017 (HR 244)

Voted Yea on:  National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (HR 5515)

Voted Yea on:  Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2018 (HR 695)

Voted Yea on:  National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018—Conference report (HR 2810)

Did not vote on:  Make America Secure Appropriations Act, 2018 (HR 3219)

Did not vote on:  Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (HR 3364)

Did not vote on:  Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (HR 3180, second vote)

Did not vote on:  Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (HR 3180)

Did not vote on:  National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (HR 2810)

Voted Yea on:  Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2017 (HR 1301)

• 114th Congress

The first session of the 114th Congress enacted into law six out of the 2,616 introduced bills (0.2 percent). Comparatively, the 113th Congress had 1.3 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the first session. In the second session, the 114th Congress enacted 133 out of 3,159 introduced bills (4.2 percent). Comparatively, the 113th Congress had 7.0 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session. [87] [88] For more information pertaining to Scalise's voting record in the 114th Congress, please see the below sections. [89]

Economic and fiscal

Trade act of 2015.

Defense spending authorization

2016 budget proposal, 2015 budget, foreign affairs, iran nuclear deal.

Export-Import Bank

Usa freedom act of 2015, pain-capable unborn child protection act, cyber security, immigration.

• 113th Congress

The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 224 out of the 3215 introduced bills (7 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session. [130] For more information pertaining to Scalise's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections. [131]

National security

Dhs appropriations, keystone pipeline amendment, cispa (2013), 2014 budget, government shutdown, morton memos prohibition, healthcare reform rules, keep the irs off your healthcare act, social issues, amash amendment, government affairs, previous congressional sessions, fiscal cliff.

See also:  Louisiana's 1st Congressional District election, 2024

Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

General election

The primary will occur on November 5, 2024. The general election will occur on December 7, 2024. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for u.s. house louisiana district 1.

Incumbent Steve Scalise and Mel Manuel are running in the primary for U.S. House Louisiana District 1 on November 5, 2024.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here .

Scalise signed the following pledges. To send us additional pledges, click here .

• Taxpayer Protection Pledge, Americans for Tax Reform

See also:  Louisiana's 1st Congressional District election, 2022

Incumbent Steve Scalise won election outright against Katie Darling and Howard Kearney in the primary for U.S. House Louisiana District 1 on November 8, 2022.

See also:  Louisiana's 1st Congressional District election, 2020

Incumbent Steve Scalise won election outright against Lee Ann Dugas and Howard Kearney in the primary for U.S. House Louisiana District 1 on November 3, 2020.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• John Robert Badger (Independent Conservative Democratic Party)

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House Louisiana District 1 on November 6, 2018.

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. A total of seven candidates filed to run and competed in the primary election on November 8, 2016. Incumbent Steve Scalise (R) defeated Lee Ann Dugas (D), Danil Ezekiel Faust (D), Joe Swider (D), Howard Kearney (L), Eliot Barron (G), and Chuemai Yang (I) to win the election. [149]

Scalise ran for re-election to the U.S. House in 2014. The election took place on November 4, 2014. Steve Scalise won the general election on November 4, 2014.

Scalise ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Louisiana's 1st District . Scalise, the incumbent, defeated M.V. Mendoza (D), Gary King (R), David Turknett (I) and Arden Wells (I) in the November 6 blanket primary. [150]

Full history

Campaign themes, ballotpedia survey responses.

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Steve Scalise has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Steve Scalise asking him to fill out the survey . If you are Steve Scalise, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey .

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You can ask Steve Scalise to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing [email protected].

Steve Scalise did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Steve Scalise did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Notable endorsements

This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage and endorsements scopes.

Campaign finance summary

Personal gain index.

The Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress) is a two-part measurement that illustrates the extent to which members of the U.S. Congress have prospered during their tenure as public servants. It consists of two different metrics:

• Changes in Net Worth
• The Donation Concentration Metric

PGI: Change in net worth

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org , Scalise's net worth as of 2012 was estimated between -$60,996 and $34,999. That averages to -$12,998.50 , which is lower than the average net worth of Republican representatives in 2012 of $6,956,438.47. Scalise ranked as the 420th most wealthy representative in 2012. [151] Between 2007 and 2012, Scalise's calculated net worth [152] decreased by an average of 21 percent per year. Between 2004 and 2012, the average annual percentage increase for a member of Congress was 15.4 percent. [153]

The data used to calculate changes in net worth may include changes resulting from assets gained through marriage, inheritance, changes in family estates and/or trusts, changes in family business ownership, and many other variables unrelated to a member's behavior in Congress.

PGI: Donation Concentration Metric

Filings required by the Federal Election Commission report on the industries that give to each candidate. Using campaign filings and information calculated by OpenSecrets.org , Ballotpedia calculated the percentage of donations by industry received by each incumbent over the course of his or her career (or 1989 and later, if elected prior to 1988). Scalise received the most donations from individuals and PACs employed by the Oil & Gas industry.

From 1999-2014, 27.42 percent of Scalise's career contributions came from the top five industries as listed below. [156]

Congressional staff salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Scalise paid his congressional staff a total of $989,730 in 2011. He ranked 59th on the list of the highest paid Republican representative staff salaries and ranked 183rd overall of the lowest paid representative staff salaries in 2011. Overall, Louisiana ranked 37th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011. [157]

Ideology and leadership

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack , Scalise was a " far-right Republican leader ," as of August 4, 2014. This was the same rating Scalise received in June 2013. [158]

Like-minded colleagues

The website OpenCongress tracks the voting records of each member to determine with whom he or she votes most and least often. The results include a member from each party. [159]

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Scalise missed 76 of 5,415 roll call votes from May 2008 to September 2015. This amounted to 1.4 percent, which was lower than the median of 2.2 percent among representatives as of September 2015. [160]

National Journal vote ratings

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year.

Scalise ranked 4th in the conservative rankings in 2013. [161]

Scalise ranked 5th in the conservative rankings in 2012. [162]

Scalise ranked 11th in the conservative rankings in 2011. [163]

Voting with party

The website OpenCongress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus.

Scalise voted with the Republican Party 94.9 percent of the time, which ranked 91st among the 234 House Republican members as of August 2014. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many

Scalise voted with the Republican Party 98.4 percent of the time, which ranked 20th among the 233 House Republican members as of June 2013. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update. Scalise and his wife Jennifer (neé Letulle) have two children. [164]

Noteworthy events

Withdrawal as speaker of the house nominee (2023).

Following the October 3, 2023, removal of former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the House Republican caucus voted for Scalise as the party's next nominee for speaker. Scalise defeated Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) 113-99 in the caucus' secret ballot vote on October 11. [165] Scalise withdrew from the race on October 12. [166]

Selection as House majority leader

Scalise was elected to be House majority leader in the 118th Congress when House Republicans held their leadership elections on November 15, 2022. He ran unopposed. [167]

Electoral vote certification on January 6-7, 2021

Congress convened a joint session on January 6-7, 2021, to count electoral votes by state and confirm the results of the 2020 presidential election . Scalise voted against certifying the electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania. The House rejected both objections by a vote of 121-303 for Arizona and 138-282 for Pennsylvania.

Decision to self-quarantine for coronavirus on March 18, 2020

On March 18, 2020, Steve Scalise announced that he was entering a self-quarantine for two weeks after learning U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart tested positive for coronavirus. [168]

COVID-19, also known as coronavirus disease 2019 , is the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The first confirmed case of the disease in the United States was announced on January 21, 2020. For more of Ballotpedia's coverage of the coronavirus impact on political and civic life, click here .

Selection as House minority whip

Scalise was elected to be House minority whip in the 116th Congress when House Republicans held their leadership elections on November 14, 2018. He was elected by a unanimous voice vote. [169]

Shooting during congressional baseball game (2017)

On June 14, 2017, Scalise was shot and wounded by a gunman while at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Va. Over 50 rounds were reported to have been fired, wounding members of the Capitol Hill police and congressional staffers. [170]

White-supremacist gathering (2014)

On December 29, 2014, Scalise confirmed that he spoke at a white supremacist gathering in 2002 when he was a Louisiana state representative. Scalise, through an adviser, confirmed he spoke at a meeting organized by the European-American Unity and Rights Organization. Scalise's adviser however denied that the congressman knew of the group's affiliation with white-supremacy and neo-nazi activity at the time. When speaking with the Times-Picayune, Scalise said, "For anyone to suggest that I was involved with a group like that is insulting and ludicrous."

Some congressional Democrats questioned whether Scalise should remain in his leadership post as House Majority Whip. Scalise's office said he did not know the implications of his actions, his office was understaffed at the time, and he had little knowledge of the groups that asked him to speak at events. [171]

RSC fires director (2013)

The Republican Study Committee fired its longtime executive director Paul Teller in December 2013 and accused him of leaking conversations with lawmakers. [172]

Scalise, the chairman of the RSC, reportedly asked Teller for his resignation, and announced the termination at a December 11, 2013, RSC meeting on Capitol Hill. [172]

“Paul was divulging private, member level conversations and actively working against strategies developed by RSC members,” said the senior GOP aide. “Trust between senior staff and RSC members is paramount. No staffer is above a member.” [172]

2024 Elections

• Newsletters

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• ↑ Congressman Steve Scalise, "Scalise Elected Majority Leader," November 15, 2022
• ↑ NBC , "Steve Scalise to run for speaker job after McCarthy ouster," accessed October 4, 2023
• ↑ The Hill , "Scalise edges Jordan for GOP nomination for Speaker: live coverage", accessed October 11, 2023
• ↑ Axios , "Steve Scalise drops out of House speaker race," October 12, 2023
• ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Biographical Guide to Members of Congress , "Steve Scalise," accessed November 15, 2011
• ↑ NPR, "Steve Scalise says he has been diagnosed with a 'very treatable blood cancer'," August 29, 2023
• ↑ Associated Press, "No. 2 House Republican Steve Scalise is diagnosed with blood cancer and undergoing treatment," August 29, 2023
• ↑ U.S. House Clerk , "Official Alphabetical List of the House of Representatives of the United States One Hundred Fifteenth Congress," accessed February 2, 2017
• ↑ U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Clerk , "Committee Information," accessed February 18, 2015
• ↑ CQ.com , "House Committee Rosters for the 113th Congress," accessed March 3, 2013
• ↑ U.S. House of Representatives , "Committee assignments," accessed March 31, 2014
• ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk , "House of Representatives Committee Assignments," accessed November 12, 2011
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.2670 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.185 - To terminate the requirement imposed by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for proof of COVID-19 vaccination for foreign travelers, and for other purposes." accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.2811 - Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.Con.Res.9 - Denouncing the horrors of socialism." accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.1 - Lower Energy Costs Act," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.J.Res.30 - Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to 'Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights'." accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.J.Res.7 - Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020." accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.3746 - Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "Roll Call 20," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.Res.757 - Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant.," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "Roll Call 527," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.Res.757 - Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant." accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.Res.878 - Providing for the expulsion of Representative George Santos from the United States House of Representatives." accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.3684 - Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.1319 - American Rescue Plan Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.5376 - Inflation Reduction Act of 2022," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.3617 - Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.1 - For the People Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.1808 - Assault Weapons Ban of 2022," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "S.1605 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.7776 - James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.6 - American Dream and Promise Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "S.3373 - Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.4346 - Chips and Science Act," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.3755 - Women's Health Protection Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.1996 - SAFE Banking Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.2471 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.5 - Equality Act," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.8404 - Respect for Marriage Act," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.6833 - Continuing Appropriations and Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.7688 - Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.8 - Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.5746 - Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "S.2938 - Bipartisan Safer Communities Act," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.Res.24 - Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.2617 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 434," accessed December 13, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 284," June 21, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 282," June 21, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 434," accessed March 12, 2019
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 549," October 3, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 344," June 29, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 342," June 29, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 256," May 4, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 405," September 26, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 399," September 13, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 313," June 28, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 257," June 8, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 216," May 22, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 127," March 22, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 69," February 9, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 60," February 6, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 44," January 22, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 33," January 18, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 708," December 21, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 692," December 19, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 670," December 7, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 637," November 16, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 589," October 26, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 557," October 5, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 528," September 14, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 480," September 8, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 441," September 6, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 299," June 8, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 249," May 3, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 230," May 24, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 49," January 30, 2018
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 631," November 14, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 435," July 27, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 413," July 25, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 437," July 28, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 407," July 24, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results For Roll Call 378," July 14, 2017
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 136," March 8, 2017
• ↑ Congressional Record , "Resume of Congressional Activity, First Session of the 113th Congress," accessed April 29, 2015
• ↑ Congressional Record , "Resume of Congressional Activity, Second Session of the 114th Congress," accessed January 5, 2017
• ↑ Congressional Record , "Resume of Congressional Activity, First Session of the One Hundred Fourteenth Congress," April 13, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 361," June 12, 2015
• ↑ Roll Call , "Deadline for TAA Do-Over Vote Extended to July 30 (Updated)," June 15, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 362," June 12, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 374," June 18, 2015
• ↑ Politico , "Trade turnaround: House backs new power for Obama," June 18, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 388," June 24, 2015
• ↑ The Hill , "Obama signs trade bills," June 29, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 239," accessed May 27, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R. 1735," accessed May 27, 2015
• ↑ The Hill , "Redone defense policy bill sails through House," accessed November 12, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "S. 1356," accessed November 12, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 618," accessed November 12, 2015
• ↑ Senate.gov , "On the Motion (Motion to Concur in the House Amendment to S. 1356)," accessed November 12, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "S.Con.Res.11," accessed May 5, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 183," accessed May 5, 2015
• ↑ The Hill , "Republicans pass a budget, flexing power of majority," accessed May 5, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "HR 1314 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015," accessed November 1, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 579," accessed November 1, 2015
• ↑ Senate.gov , "On the Motion (Motion to Concur in the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 1314)," accessed November 1, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.1191 - Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015," accessed May 16, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 226," accessed May 16, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "HR 3461," accessed September 11, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 493," accessed September 11, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "HR 3460," accessed September 10, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 494," accessed September 11, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H Res 411," accessed September 10, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 492," accessed September 10, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "HR 597," accessed November 2, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 576," accessed November 2, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.2048," accessed May 26, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 224," accessed May 26, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "HR 36 - the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," accessed May 16, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "HR 36," accessed May 16, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "HR 1731," accessed November 2, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 173," accessed November 2, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "HR 1560 - Protecting Cyber Networks Act," accessed November 1, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 170," accessed November 1, 2015
• ↑ Congress.gov , "HR 4038 - the American SAFE Act of 2015," accessed November 20, 2015
• ↑ Clerk.House.gov , "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 643," accessed November 20, 2015
• ↑ Congressional Record , "Resume of Congressional Activity, First Session of the 112th Congress," accessed September 5, 2013
• ↑ Congressional Record , "Resume of Congressional Activity, Second Session of the 113th Congress," accessed March 4, 2014
• ↑ 132.0 132.1 132.2 132.3 132.4 132.5 132.6 132.7 Project Vote Smart , "Steve Scalise Key Votes," accessed October 14, 2013
• ↑ The Library of Congress , "Bill Summary & Status - 113th Congress (2013 - 2014) - H.R.624," accessed August 27, 2013
• ↑ Clerk of U.S. House , "Roll Call Vote 31: H.R. 2642," accessed February 12, 2014
• ↑ Politico , "House clears farm bill," accessed February 12, 2014
• ↑ 136.0 136.1 New York Times , "Senate passes long-stalled Farm Bill, With clear winners and losers," accessed February 12, 2014
• ↑ 137.0 137.1 CNN.com , "House passes compromise $1.1 trillion budget for 2014," accessed January 20, 2014
• ↑ 138.0 138.1 138.2 U.S. House, "Roll Call Vote 21," accessed January 20, 2014
• ↑ Roll Call, "House Passes $1.1 Trillion Omnibus," accessed January 20, 2014
• ↑ Clerk of the U.S. House , "Final vote results for Roll Call 504," accessed October 31, 2013
• ↑ Buzzfeed , "Government Shutdown: How We Got Here," accessed October 1, 2013
• ↑ The Washington Post , "Reid, McConnell propose bipartisan Senate bill to end shutdown, extend borrowing," accessed October 16, 2013
• ↑ U.S. House , "Final vote results for Roll Call 550," accessed October 31, 2013
• ↑ U.S. House , "House Resolution 676," accessed July 30, 2014
• ↑ Associated Press , "Suing Obama: GOP-led House gives the go-ahead," July 31, 2014
• ↑ Washington Post , "House clears way for lawsuit against Obama," accessed July 30, 2014
• ↑ U.S. House , "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff," accessed January 4, 2013
• ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State , "Candidate Inquiry," accessed July 25, 2016
• ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State , "Candidate List," accessed October 22,2012
• ↑ OpenSecrets , "Scalise, (R-LA), 2012," accessed February 18, 2014
• ↑ This figure represents the total percentage growth from either 2004 (if the member entered office in 2004 or earlier) or the member's first year in office (as noted in the chart below).
• ↑ This number was found by dividing each member's total net worth growth percentage by the number of years included in the calculation.
• ↑ This figure represents the total percentage growth divided by the number of years for which there are net worth figures for each member.
• ↑ This figure was calculated using median asset data from the Census Bureau. Please see the Congressional Net Worth data for Ballotpedia spreadsheet for more information on this calculation.
• ↑ OpenSecrets.org , "Rep. Steve Scalise," accessed September 24, 2014
• ↑ LegiStorm , "Steve Scalise," accessed 2012
• ↑ GovTrack , "Steve Scalise," accessed August 4, 2014
• ↑ OpenCongress , "Rep. Steve Scalise," archived February 25, 2016
• ↑ GovTrack , "Rep. Steve Scalise (R)," accessed October 1, 2015
• ↑ National Journal , "2013 Congressional Vote Ratings," accessed August 1, 2014
• ↑ National Journal , "TABLE: House Liberal Scores by Issue Area," February 26, 2013
• ↑ National Journal , "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," accessed February 23, 2012
• ↑ Official Campaign Site , "Biography," accessed November 15, 2011
• ↑ Twitter , "Olivia Beavers on October 11, 2023," accessed October 11, 2023
• ↑ NPR , "Scalise drops out of race for speaker of the House, leaving Congress in limbo," October 12, 2023
• ↑ Twitter , "Jake Sherman on November 15, 2022," accessed November 15, 2022
• ↑ The Hill , "Scalise to self-quarantine in response to Diaz-Balart test," March 18, 2020
• ↑ CBS News , "Kevin McCarthy elected House minority leader and Steve Scalise will be minority whip," November 14, 2018
• ↑ Politico , "House Majority Whip Scalise wounded in Northern Virginia shooting, others also shot," June 14, 2017
• ↑ Washington Post , "House Majority Whip Scalise confirms he spoke to white supremacists in 2002," December 29, 2014
• ↑ 172.0 172.1 172.2 Politico , "RSC fires executive director," accessed December 11, 2013
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Steve Scalise brings a fresh face but a similar policy vision as Kevin McCarthy, Republicans say

WASHINGTON — Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana secured the Republican nomination for speaker of the House and quickly won over some of the eight rebels who voted last week to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., but many GOP lawmakers say he would largely be a continuation of his predecessor.

Scalise shares McCarthy's vision, most Republican House members say, on policy fights like spending and on strategy like the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

“The personalities involved are different,” Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., said in an interview Wednesday, referring to Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who led the effort to oust McCarthy and had been his chief antagonist for months.

Scalise, if he is elected speaker, will inherit the same narrow Republican majority that must deal with a Senate and a White House controlled by Democrats.

While Scalise had been McCarthy's No. 2 since 2019, and while the two have acted in concert in dozens of legislative battles, the relationship grew chilly and rocky at times.

Garcia said the approach Scalise pitched to the Republican conference about government funding, the biggest task facing Congress, resembles the path the House has already been on.

“What he outlined is similar to what we were in the midst of doing, which is: Bring the single-subject appropriation bills to the floor and then force the Senate to engage,” Garcia said. “So I think it’s a similar strategy.”

He added: “This isn’t a McCarthy-Gaetz issue anymore. So I think Scalise has better odds of being successful.”

'Renewed excitement'

Asked to name the ways Scalise would be an upgrade over McCarthy, Gaetz offered no specifics.

“All of them,” he said.

“There’s a renewed excitement,” he added, expressing his support for Scalise. “We’ve got the legend from Louisiana who’s going to lead us. And I think that he’ll be invigorating to our activists. I think he’ll be a great communicator to the country. And I think he’ll do a great job uniting the Republican conference.”

After Republicans voted to nominate him, Scalise said his “first order of business” would be to pass a bipartisan resolution supporting Israel in the wake of the terrorist attack by Hamas, which McCarthy said this week he would have put to a vote if he were speaker. He said he will “be calling on President Biden to sit down and talk about the crisis at the border,” a topic that was a high priority for McCarthy during his time as speaker.

And multiple GOP lawmakers said the House’s impeachment inquiry into Biden will continue under Scalise, with Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, whom Scalise defeated for the speaker’s nomination, remaining as one of the top investigators.

“Under Scalise I don’t think — from a platform or paradigm perspective — any of that changes,” Garcia said of the inquiry.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said she wants to defund special counsel Jack Smith, who has secured federal indictments of former President Donald Trump, and hold impeachment votes on the floor. She said she discussed her goals with Scalise and came away “confident” that she will be able to “aggressively do my job” if he becomes speaker, without discussing any specific commitments he may have made.

The continuity is natural in a majority where 96% of members voted last week to preserve McCarthy’s speakership. Eight defections were enough to evict him, because of paper-thin margins and Democrats’ rallying behind Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., for the job.

It’s unclear when the House will vote on a new speaker after it adjourned Wednesday without setting a time. Scalise will need at least 217 of the 221 Republicans to secure the position unless absences shift the threshold.

“There’s a lot of busy work to do, a lot of important work to do on behalf of people who are struggling,” Scalise told reporters. “We’re going to provide that vision.”

Some Republicans say Scalise would be a continuation of McCarthy’s approach — and they don’t mean that as a compliment.

“I think the conference had a chance to give the country hope that we were going to bring much-needed change, and instead the conference voted for status quo,” said Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., who wasn’t ready to support Scalise. “Mr. Scalise has obviously been part of our leadership team for many years. So it’s hard to envision that he will be a change agent.”

'Steve is somebody that can unify'

Behind closed doors Tuesday night, Scalise told Republicans he wants to pass 85% of the appropriations bills through the House within his first two weeks as speaker, two lawmakers in the room said. That would continue the approach of McCarthy, who had been steering funding bills through the House that violate a two-year bipartisan budget deal struck in May and advance a host of conservative priorities but have no chance of passing the Senate.

“I do think Steve is somebody that can unify. And that’s been his trademark. And so I’m willing to give him the benefit to pull it together,” said Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala.

Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, said Scalise and McCarthy have much in common, as do Scalise and Jordan.

“Even with Jim — I mean, the differences between Jim and Steve ideologically, you’re splitting hairs at that point. There’s not a lot of daylight, if any, between them,” Fallon said. “I heard their arguments when they gave their five minutes and then 90 minutes of questions. I didn’t hear a lot of policy differences, quite frankly. … They both want to get the [appropriations] bills passed. They both want regular order with a lot of member input.”

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who voted to evict McCarthy, declined to compare him and Scalise when he was asked how the two are different.

“I don’t know,” said Burchett, who pivoted to praising Scalise and saying he’ll support him for speaker. “I’ll just say the positives about Steve. He understands fiscal conservativism. He has a track record of handling tough legislation in the past. And I think that’s going to serve him very well in the trenches.”

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a conservative who initially opposed McCarthy but came around after he won concessions, said it was a “mistake” for Scalise to oppose his new rule to require the caucus to get 217 votes for a speaker before any votes are cast on the floor.

“We shouldn’t have walked away from that process, which was bringing us together, to figure out how we were going to get united before we went to the floor,” Roy told reporters. “So we did. And so now we’ve got to go figure it out.”

Sahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.

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Republican Steve Scalise is seen as a fighter, but becoming the House speaker might require a brawl

Republicans have nominated Rep. Steve Scalise to be the next House speaker; now they must try to unite their deeply divided majority to elect the conservative in a floor vote after ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the job. (Oct. 11)

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of La., speaks to reporters as he arrives for a meeting of House Republicans to vote on candidates for Speaker of the House on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023 in Washington. Stalemated over a new House speaker, the Republican majority is scheduled to convene behind closed doors to try to vote on a nominee. But lawmakers say Wednesday’s private ballots to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy could take a while. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

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Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., speaks to reporters after a closed-door meeting of House Republicans during which he was nominated as their candidate for Speaker of the House, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023 in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building is visible as House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of La., leaves a meeting of House Republicans after they voted for him to be the next Speaker of the House on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

WASHINGTON (AP) — With his walker positioned on the mound, Rep. Steve Scalise threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Washington Nationals ballpark in the fall of 2017, a breathtaking comeback for the Republican congressman who just months earlier was fighting for his life after a gunman had opened fire on lawmakers at their own charity baseball game practice.

An “American hero,” is how GOP colleagues described Scalise after that shooting as well as on Wednesday, when a narrow majority of them nominated him as their next House speaker after the unprecedented ouster of the former speaker , Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

Scalise, 58, and recently diagnosed with blood cancer , spent the rest of the day holed up at the Capitol, vigorously working to secure the support he will need from his detractors to lead the divided Republican majority before an eventual House vote to take the gavel.

“As we’ve all witnessed, he is a fighter,” said Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky. “He has proven against all odds he can get the job done and come back from adversity.”

An affable Louisianan, Scalise was first elected to Congress in 2008, after more than a decade in the Legislature, and swiftly rose through the ranks in Washington.

Early on he positioned himself as a conservative, part of a new generation of younger Republicans who came of political age during the Ronald Reagan era, many intent on changing Washington.

Once Republicans took majority control in the 2010 election “tea party” wave of hardline lawmakers to Congress, Scalise soon became part of the House leadership team alongside McCarthy and others under then-Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

An early rivalry developed between Scalise and McCarthy that punctuated their rise, and continues to this day as the Louisianan is about to take the gavel after the Californian was pushed out.

Scalise has long drawn his support from the Southern states, and he fell outside of the triumvirate of McCarthy, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia and eventual Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin who called themselves the “Young Guns” and penned a book about their vision for the Republican Party in Congress.

When a right-wing challenger toppled Cantor in a GOP primary election for his congressional seat in Virginia in summer of 2014, it also set off a domino effect in the House leadership ladder.

McCarthy rose to become majority leader, and Scalise the majority whip.

One early morning three years later, Scalise and other Republican lawmakers gathered at a grassy park in the suburbs outside of Washington to practice for the upcoming congressional baseball game.

A rifleman with grievances over then-President Donald Trump started shooting, gravely wounding Scalise, and hitting several people and U.S. Capitol Police, who also fired back. Lawmakers dove for cover.

During an interview later on C-SPAN, Scalise described asking the medic as he was being airlifted to the hospital to call his wife in Louisiana.

“I just felt like things were fading away,” Scalise recalled.

No one picked up the phone but his wife saved the voice mail message he left her that day, and listening back to it, he said, is tough.

But Scalise said: “It’s hard to focus on the negative when I know how close I was to not making it, and to know that I’m here alive and I get to do all the things I love doing,”

When Scalise returned to the House three months later he was cheered with a standing ovation .

“You have no idea how great this feels to be back here at work in the people’s House,” he said at the time to a chamber packed with lawmakers.

Scalise went on to champion Second Amendment rights, despite a series of mass shootings in the United States.

If the Capitol Police officers on his security detail had not been there with guns to counter the shooter, “then there would have been nobody to take him down,” Scalise said around the first anniversary of the shooting.

He said the shooting “deepened my appreciation for the Second Amendment because it was people with guns who saved my life and every other member out there.”

A father of two, Scalise recently returned to work after receiving treatment for blood cancer, raising questions from colleagues about his health and ability to lead.

The speaker’s job can be brutal and thankless, with busy travel across the country raising campaign cash and recruiting candidates for elections.

Behind closed doors Wednesday, Scalise’s wife, Jennifer, joined the meeting, sending a message that her husband’s blood cancer would not slow him down.

“If there was any outside chance that this was going to be detrimental to his health, or counterproductive to his well being, she would have put her foot down,” said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark. “She’s all in.”

But that wasn’t enough for some holdouts who supported rival Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee who had Trump’s backing to become speaker, and are now denying Scalise the votes for the gavel.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said she would continue supporting Jordan because she wants to see Scalise “defeat cancer more than sacrifice his health” in a demanding job.

Others dredged up his past. Scalise had apologized in 2014 after he was found to have addressed a white supremacist group in 2002 founded by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. Scalise said he didn’t know of the group’s racial views.

It’s not the first time a leader has risen on the heels of another’s downfall.

When Boehner abruptly retired rather than face the threat of ouster, McCarthy reached for the gavel only to step aside for Ryan when it was clear he did not have support.

After Ryan decided to retire in 2018 as it became more difficult to lead during the Trump era, the political rivalry between Scalise and McCarthy sparked again.

Scalise did not openly challenge McCarthy at the time as Republicans fell into the minority, but positioned himself as a fallback in case the votes weren’t there.

When McCarthy seized the gavel in January once Republicans regained the majority, Scalise won the No. 2 job as Majority Leader.

Late Wednesday, the speaker’s office became a revolving door as holdout Republican lawmakers met with Scalise bringing their concerns, complaints and demands.

The Republicans want to prevent the spectacle of repeated House floor votes to elect the speaker. Republicans hold just a slim 221-212 majority, and almost all of them will need to support Scalise over the objections of Democrats.

“We’re having continued conversations,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the Freedom Caucus.

“As I said earlier, I was not happy with the way things unfolded,” said Roy. “I thought we should figure this out behind closed doors, as a conference before we started moving towards the floor.”

___ Associated Press writers Stephen Groves and Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.

Speaker Election House Delays Vote on Speaker After G.O.P. Nominates Steve Scalise

It became clear after the No. 2 Republican in the House won a secret ballot to become his party’s nominee that he did not have the votes to win the gavel.

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Luke Broadwater and Annie Karni

Reporting from the Capitol

Here’s the latest on the speaker election.

Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana narrowly scraped together enough Republican support on Wednesday to become his party’s choice to lead the House, but deep divisions in the G.O.P. ranks threatened to complicate his election as speaker.

Mere minutes after a slim majority of Republicans voted in a closed-door party meeting to select him as the party’s candidate, Mr. Scalise’s fate was thrown into doubt. Several Republican lawmakers announced they would not back him on the House floor without concessions, complaining of a rushed process to choose a new speaker and voicing skepticism that he could unite their fractious conference.

Republicans delayed an election of the full House that had been planned for midafternoon while the party regrouped, and adjourned on Wednesday evening with no resolution. They scheduled another meeting of the House for noon on Thursday, but there was no sign that the G.O.P. was any closer to an agreement that would allow them to elect a speaker at that point.

A week and a day after the abrupt and historic ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the hands of a small right-wing bloc, Republicans voted behind closed doors, 113 to 99, to name Mr. Scalise, their second-ranking leader, as his successor. Mr. Scalise turned back a challenge by Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a favorite of the hard right who had the endorsement of former President Donald J. Trump.

But he still had to win a majority on the House floor, where chaos reigned the last time Republicans tried to elect a speaker, and it was clear that Mr. Scalise did not yet have enough votes.

Mr. Scalise toiled Wednesday evening to try to win over his detractors, meeting one-on-one with several of them, but he appeared to be losing votes, rather than gaining them. The Republican leadership vacuum was fueling the infighting just as Mr. Scalise was working to quell it.

Representative Chip Roy of Texas, the policy director for the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus who engineered what he called a “power sharing agreement” with Mr. McCarthy during his excruciatingly drawn-out election in January, pledged not to vote for Mr. Scalise.

The two men met Wednesday evening, and Mr. Roy said afterward he wanted to see Mr. Scalise commit to changes demanded by hard-line conservatives to how Congress operates.

“What we’re trying to do is make sure we can make this institution represent the people and not just represent the swamp,” Mr. Roy said.

After his slender loss, Mr. Jordan met with Mr. Scalise privately and offered to nominate him on the House floor, according to a spokesman, but he made no public statement of endorsement, and his supporters did not appear swayed.

“I just voted for Jim Jordan for speaker on a private ballot in conference, and I will be voting for Jim Jordan on the House floor,” said Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Republican from Georgia.

“I’m not switching my vote,” said Representative Max Miller, Republican of Ohio, another right-wing member. “I’m Jim Jordan all the way.”

Complicating the picture, a variety of Republicans were refusing to back Mr. Scalise, including some in the mainstream who represent districts won by President Biden and even a powerful committee chairman.

“He came out with 110 votes; he needs 217,” Representative Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said on CNN. “He’s going to have to give us a message or an understanding of how he’s going to bridge that gap and make certain that he brings Congress together and not divide the Republican conference more.”

The situation underscored the formidable challenge any Republican speaker would face in navigating the same dynamics that made the party ungovernable for Mr. McCarthy. The party’s minuscule margin of control and its many divisions make maintaining a governing majority difficult. Those factors have also empowered a far-right faction that will not tolerate compromise with Democrats who control the Senate and the White House.

The Republican infighting has left the House largely paralyzed since Mr. McCarthy’s ouster. Lawmakers were growing increasingly worried about the impact of continuing to operate without a duly elected speaker, including that the chamber might not be able to support Israel after an invasion by the Palestinian group Hamas that has led to more than 1,000 Israeli deaths and scores of hostages being taken.

Early in the day, Mr. Scalise gained ground after Republicans killed an effort to change their party rules for nominating a candidate for speaker by requiring a public roll call and a higher threshold that would have made it more difficult for him to prevail. It had been billed as an attempt to minimize chaos on the House floor and avoid another situation like what played out in January, when it took Mr. McCarthy 15 rounds of votes to win the speakership.

The nomination of Mr. Scalise, 58, who has been the No. 2 leader in the chamber , was a vote of confidence for a deeply conservative Republican who once described himself, according to a local columnist, as “ like David Duke without the baggage .” He represents the Louisiana congressional district that elected Mr. Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan leader, to the State Legislature in 1989. His conservative governmental philosophy, the columnist wrote, was not much different from the one Mr. Duke embraced as a politician, including oppositions to taxes and social safety net programs.

Mr. Scalise apologized in 2014 for having attended a white supremacist gathering more than a decade earlier, saying that he had not known the nature of the group.

On Wednesday, Representative Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, cited that episode as a reason not to support him, saying that she would back Mr. Jordan instead.

“I personally cannot, in good conscience, vote for someone who attended a white supremacist conference and compared himself to David Duke,” she told CNN.

In Congress since 2008, Mr. Scalise was diagnosed with blood cancer over the summer and is now undergoing intense treatment, which has prompted him to wear a mask to vote on the House floor and to attend news conferences. And in 2017, during a practice for a congressional baseball game, an anti-Trump extremist shot and seriously wounded Mr. Scalise . He still walks with a limp.

Over the past year, Mr. Scalise has been marginalized by Mr. McCarthy, who has privately described him to colleagues as ineffective, checked out and reluctant to take positions , and cut him out of all major decision making. Their icy relationship made it more difficult for Mr. Scalise to consolidate support in the badly fractured Republican conference.

Catie Edmondson , Robert Jimison and Carl Hulse contributed reporting.

Karoun Demirjian

Jordan’s rise has put the future of U.S. aid to Ukraine in doubt.

Representative Jim Jordan’s nomination to be speaker of the House has brought new uncertainty to the future of American assistance to Ukraine, given his longstanding opposition to it.

Lawmakers and the White House are discussing an emergency national security package that would include funds to help Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan as well as to fortify the U.S.-Mexico border, which Republicans have demanded.

House Republican support for providing weapons and money to help Ukraine beat back Russia’s invasion has been flagging under pressure from far-right Republicans like Mr. Jordan. They argue that sending aid to Kyiv siphons money away from domestic security challenges and could pitch the United States into a head-on conflict with Russia. Former President Donald J. Trump, who counts Mr. Jordan among his closest allies on Capitol Hill, popularized that isolationist argument with his “America First” approach to foreign policy, but until recently, most G.O.P. lawmakers had not embraced it.

Last month, 117 House Republicans — a majority of the caucus — voted against $300 million to train and equip Ukrainian fighters . The bill ultimately passed, as the G.O.P. opponents are still an overall minority in Congress, where Democrats broadly back such assistance. But some lawmakers fear that Mr. Jordan’s elevation to the highest position in the House could jeopardize future efforts to help Ukraine, as the speaker controls what legislation reaches the floor.

Ukraine aid was one of the key issues that distinguished Mr. Jordan from Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the House’s No. 2 Republican, who beat him last week to become the party’s speaker nominee but left the race after hard-liners refused to back him on the floor. Mr. Scalise’s support for Ukraine assistance was one of the reasons that Republican hawks backed his candidacy and initially refused to fall in line behind Mr. Jordan.

Many of those members have since shifted to support Mr. Jordan, saying that he expressed a more conciliatory stance behind closed doors.

“He said he would work with us on that,” Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters Monday night of his conversations with Mr. Jordan regarding a national security package that would include aid for Ukraine. “He said, ‘I have to look at the details,’ but the overall picture he seemed to be in agreement with. That was a big concern for me.”

Mr. Jordan has offered no such assurances publicly. When reporters asked him Monday night if he would oppose linking aid for Israel with aid to Ukraine, he sidestepped the issue.

“We need to make sure Israel has the resources they need to do well and win decisively,” he said.

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Jim Jordan has moved away from the fringe of Republican politics, but remains a hard-liner.

As a co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, once antagonized his party’s leadership so mercilessly that former Speaker John A. Boehner, whom he helped chase from his position, branded him a “legislative terrorist.”

Less than a decade later, Mr. Jordan — a fast-talking Republican often seen sans jacket, known for his hard-line stances and aggressive tactics — is now the leading candidate to claim the very speakership whose occupants he once tormented.

Mr. Jordan’s journey from the fringe of Republican politics to its epicenter on Capitol Hill is a testament to how sharply his party has veered to the right in recent years, and how thoroughly it has adopted his pugilistic style.

Those forces played a pivotal role in the downfall of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and placed Mr. Jordan in contention for the post that is second in line to the presidency, an idea that is mind-blowing to many establishment Republicans who have tracked his career.

“That notion that he could go from ‘legislative terrorist’ to speaker of the House is just insane,” said Mike Ricci, a former aide to both Mr. Boehner and Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin. “Jordan is an outsider, but he’s very much done the work of an insider to get to this moment.”

Mr. Jordan’s rise in Congress stems from a number of important alliances he has formed over the years. His strongest base of power is his colleagues in the House Freedom Caucus, many of whom consider him a mentor. He has built a solid relationship with Mr. McCarthy, for whom Mr. Jordan proved a reliable supporter and important validator on the right. Perhaps his most important ally is former President Donald J. Trump, who he has helped undermine faith in the 2020 presidential election results.

In a Republican House that has defined itself in large part by its determination to protect Mr. Trump and attack President Biden, Mr. Jordan has been a leader of both efforts. He leads a special subcommittee on the “weaponization of government” against conservatives, and he is a co-leader of the impeachment inquiry into Mr. Biden that Mr. McCarthy announced last month as he worked to appease the right.

Representative Jim Banks, Republican of Indiana, said that Mr. Jordan’s true power lay in the love he commands from base voters, built up through years of defending Mr. Trump and advocating conservative policies on Fox News and in combative congressional hearings.

“This is a different Republican Party today than what it was a decade ago,” Mr. Banks said. “And the Republican Party today is a lot more like Jim Jordan. It’s more of a fighting Republican Party.”

The House is in “recess subject to the call of the chair,” which means that McHenry, the interim speaker, can bring the chamber back into session when Republicans figure out what they intend to do regarding the vote. Other than that, no business is being conducted.

Robert Jimison

Pointing to the unusual nature of what is happening right now on Capitol Hill, Representative Steve Womack of Arkansas says he is not surprised that the Republicans who backed Representative Jim Jordan today need time to regroup after a “hotly contested race.” Womack said he believed Representative Steve Scalise was a “great uniter” and expressed confidence that Republicans would get behind him. He predicted it would happen Thursday.

The House convened briefly at the stroke of 3 p.m as scheduled, but recessed three minutes later because there was no way forward on the real business before the House — electing a new speaker.

Catie Edmondson

It’s impossible to overstate how unusual the scene playing out now is. For decades, the status quo was that a House speaker would be easily elected, in one vote, after the party that controlled the House nominated them. Kevin McCarthy’s speakership was the first in a century to break that convention. Every speaker since 1923 has been able to clinch the gavel after just one vote.

Annie Karni

So far, the eight who deposed McCarthy are not the main problem for Scalise (although Nancy Mace and Bob Good, two of the eight, have said they are undecided on who they will support on the floor). He faces a new set of opponents, some of whom made alliances with McCarthy. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who became a McCarthy ally, for instance, has said she will vote against Scalise on the House floor.

Representative Patrick McHenry, the North Carolina Republican who is serving as temporary speaker at the moment, has kept a low profile the past few days. Scalise has set up shop in the speaker’s suite on the second floor of the Capitol, and McHenry has been scarce, possibly trying to present a more neutral image since he will be responsible for overseeing the vote for speaker on the House floor, whenever that may be.

Not only is the House paralyzed until a new speaker is officially installed but the process of filling other positions in Republican leadership, such as majority leader and majority whip, are also largely on hold until the decision on speaker is finalized.

The move to recess came as it became clear that Scalise would not have the votes to win the gavel on the House floor today, and members complained of a rushed process. Meanwhile, Jordan, in a private meeting with Scalise, offered to give a nominating speech on his behalf, according to his spokesman. But that gesture did not seem to move a number of Republicans from across the political spectrum who said they would not vote for Scalise on the floor.

I’m told by a person involved in the proceedings that the House will recess and not meet at 3 p.m. to hold a floor vote.

Representative Steve Scalise is currently holding meetings in the speaker’s office, which still has Kevin McCarthy’s name hanging over the entrance.

Leaving a meeting with Scalise, Jim Jordan says the two had a “good” conversation. He did not answer questions about whether he would support his party's nominee in the House floor vote, telling reporters that Republicans were “a divided conference” and that he was focused on trying to “figure out how we can come together.”

It seems clear that Scalise at this very moment would not have enough Republican support to win the gavel on the House floor if the vote were held right now. You’ve got a mainstream Republican saying he’s undecided, some hard-right lawmakers holding out still, and a couple of McCarthy acolytes saying they’d vote for him again.

Chip Roy of Texas wrote on X that he would not be voting for Scalise on the floor. He says that the House Republicans “should NOT have called a vote” at 3 p.m. after finishing the party vote at 1:30 p.m. It’s not clear that House Republicans have officially called any vote, but it’s notable that Roy is objecting because of issues with the process. That has been what the hard right has done throughout this Congress: make arguments about process.

“I think it is foolish to rush this to the floor unless you have 217 votes,” Representative Mike Lawler of New York said. “It’ll be interesting.”

Many Republicans leaving the meeting today are hopeful but also uncertain about electing a new speaker today. A vote that requires 217 votes is still not assured as the number of Republicans openly saying they will not back Scalise grows.

Speaking on CNN, Representative Mike Lawler of New York, a mainstream Republican, said he hadn’t decided whom he would support for speaker, pointing to the possibility of a messy floor vote later.

Scalise also said there’s a “lot of important work to do on behalf of people who are struggling not only here in America, but who are concerned all around the world.” He added: “We’re going to provide that vision. We have a lot of work to do, obviously.”

Steve Scalise just spoke but took no questions and didn’t address whether he had the votes on the House floor to win the speakership. He laid out the priorities for his party — passing spending bills and securing the border — and said the conflict in Israel illustrated the need for border security.

Anushka Patil

"We need to make sure we’re sending a message to people all throughout the world that the House is open and doing the people’s business," Scalise said.

Representative Jodey Arrington of Texas says he has spoken to many Republicans who supported Jim Jordan that have committed to backing Scalise in a floor vote. “The vast majority are willing to come over and rally behind the designee,” he told reporters.

Representative Steve Womack, a senior Republican from Arkansas, said he was disappointed that Jordan did not immediately wholeheartedly endorse Scalise after the vote. “I think it was a moment for Jim Jordan to step up and demonstrate the kind of leadership that he was trying to espouse in order to become speaker and, frankly, I think he missed that opportunity,” Womack said.

“If we go to the floor this afternoon or tomorrow and for some reason Steve fails to get 217 votes, I think Jim will own part of that because I think he set the table,” Womack said.

Scalise, a McCarthy rival, looks to unite Republicans and take his place.

The speakership candidacy of Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 Republican and a longtime rival to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, is the culmination of a steady political climb for a deeply conservative Republican who once described himself, according to a local columnist, as “ like David Duke without the baggage .”

In Louisiana, Mr. Scalise represents the First Congressional District, a place where the fossil fuel industry is king, and where conservatism is rooted in the myth of rugged individualism — and, at least in some quarters, a politics of racial resentment. It is where Mr. Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan leader, was elected to the State Legislature in 1989.

Mr. Scalise made the remark comparing himself to Mr. Duke to Stephanie Grace , now a columnist for The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate newspaper, when she first met Mr. Scalise in the 1990s. She wrote that Mr. Scalise’s point “was that the actual governmental philosophy Duke espoused isn’t far off from what was becoming mainstream conservative thought, what with its suspicion of taxes, set-asides and safety net programs such as welfare.”

Decades later, those views are as powerful as ever in the Republican Party as Mr. Scalise faces off for the speakership against Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a founder of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus.

A key plank of Mr. Scalise’s pitch to his colleagues is that he is a fund-raising powerhouse, second only to Mr. McCarthy. He has raised nearly $170 million over the course of his congressional career to help Republicans win elections. In the 2022 midterm elections, Mr. Scalise spent 112 days on the road campaigning for members and candidates. Over the past five years, his office said, he has given $7.2 million directly to Republican members and candidates and transferred $50 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

“Kevin McCarthy was fabulous at raising the resources our conference needed,” said Representative Ann Wagner of Missouri. “The only person second to that is Steve Scalise.”

Over the past year, Mr. Scalise has been marginalized by Mr. McCarthy, who has privately described him to colleagues as ineffective, checked out and reluctant to take positions , and cut him out of all major decision making.

The dynamic was frustrating for Mr. Scalise at the time. But now, his allies believe that the fact that he was not involved in the debt ceiling negotiations with President Biden, which ultimately proved to be a catalyst for Mr. McCarthy’s downfall, could make him a viable option for the hard-right members who rebelled against the former speaker.

A longstanding beef between McCarthy and Scalise has some mainstream Republicans backing hard-right Jordan.

Representative Erin Houchin, a first-term Republican from Indiana, was chosen as the poster child for the new House G.O.P. in the opening months of the 118th Congress, promoted by leaders as a fresh, friendly and broadly appealing face for their party.

Ms. Houchin joined the Main Street Caucus, a group of center-leaning Republicans, and became the president of the freshman G.O.P. class. She was a stalwart ally of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, voting for the debt limit deal he forged with President Biden, pushing for her Republican colleagues to get behind the stopgap funding measure to keep the government open and generally cheering on the party agenda.

But on Wednesday as Republicans met to select a new speaker to replace Mr. McCarthy, Ms. Houchin was set to deliver a nominating speech for Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the right-wing hard-liner who co-founded the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus.

She is part of a group of lawmakers who view themselves as pragmatic centrists, but who are now lining up behind Mr. Jordan, whose right-wing bent, combative style and close alliance with former President Donald J. Trump have little in common with them.

Representative Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, another center-leaning Republican, has also publicly backed Mr. Jordan. (Mr. Armstrong serves with Mr. Jordan on the Oversight and Judiciary committees and considers him a close friend.)

Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, the chairman of the Main Street Caucus, and Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma, the vice-chair of the group, have not publicly said who they are backing. But they pushed unsuccessfully for a rule change that would have made it more difficult for Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 House Republican who is viewed as the more traditional choice to succeed Mr. McCarthy, to prevail over Mr. Jordan in the race.

They are also close allies of Mr. McCarthy. As members of the Main Street group, their stated purpose is “to develop common sense, pragmatic legislation and promote kitchen-table policies in Congress.” Mr. Jordan was branded by former Republican Speaker John A. Boehner as a “legislative terrorist,” but forged a deal with Mr. McCarthy that moved him from the fringe to the epicenter of politics on the Hill.

The Main Street Caucus, like the conference overall, had members on both sides of the race for speaker, with some aligned with Mr. Jordan and some aligned with Mr. Scalise.

The strange alignment is the ultimate reflection of how much of what happens on Capitol Hill is dictated more by what clique you belong to — and who you or your friends may have a personal beef with — than where you sit on the ideological spectrum.

Mr. McCarthy and his allies have quietly been encouraging members to back Mr. Jordan over Mr. Scalise, with whom Mr. McCarthy has an icy relationship. Mr. McCarthy’s rivalry with Mr. Scalise goes back years and at this point is the stuff of lore on Capitol Hill. At key moments over the past few months, Mr. McCarthy boxed Mr. Scalise out of decision making, describing him to colleagues as ineffective, checked out and reluctant to take positions .

The candidates themselves were both presenting themselves on Wednesday as men who could unite their fractious conference, and move beyond the personal pique that has come to define much of the Republican-on-Republican warfare in the House.

But Mr. Jordan qualified his support for Mr. Scalise, suggesting that he would back the Louisianian only if he won a near-unanimous vote of Republicans — far higher than the simple majority currently required under the party rules. Mr. Jordan’s allies tried to change these rules and raise the threshold, which would make it more difficult for Mr. Scalise to prevail. But the conference voted 135-88 on Wednesday morning to kill the rule change.

“I will support anyone who can get 217 votes,” Mr. Jordan said as he entered the meeting room. “We’ve got to come together as a conference.”

A headline with an earlier version of this article misstated the office Jim Jordan holds. He is a representative, not a senator.

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Jack Healy ,  J. David Goodman ,  Jenna Russell and Alan Blinder

The chaos in Washington has fueled voters’ dismal view of politics.

Griping about politics is a time-honored American pastime but lately the country’s political mood has plunged to some of the worst levels on record.

After weathering the tumult of the Trump presidency, a pandemic, the Capitol insurrection, inflation, multiple presidential impeachments and far-right Republicans’ pervasive lies about fraud in the 2020 election, voters say they feel tired and angry.

In dozens of recent interviews across the country, voters young and old expressed a broad pessimism about the next presidential election that transcends party lines, and a teetering faith in political institutions.

The White House and Congress have pumped out billions of dollars to fix and improve the nation’s roads, ports, pipelines and internet. They have approved hundreds of billions to combat climate change and lower the cost of prescription drugs. President Biden has canceled billions more in student debt. Yet those accomplishments have not fully registered with voters.

A small group of hard-right Republicans drove the country to the brink of a government shutdown, then plunged Congress into chaos when they instigated the vote that, with Democratic support, removed Representative Kevin McCarthy as speaker. Democrats are betting that voters will blame Republicans for the trouble.

Many voters who spoke with The New York Times said they viewed the whole episode as evidence of broad dysfunction in Washington, and blamed political leaders for being consumed by workplace drama at the expense of the people they are meant to serve.

“They seem so disconnected from us,” said Kevin Bass, 57, a bank executive who lives in New Home, a rural West Texas town, and said he is a conservative who voted twice for former President Donald J. Trump. “I don’t really look at either party as benefiting our country,” he said.

Voters said that Washington infighting and the Republicans’ flirtation with debt default and government shutdowns recklessly put people’s paychecks, health care and benefits at risk at a moment when they are preoccupied with how to pay rising health care and grocery bills, or to cope with a fast-warming climate unleashing natural disasters in nearly every corner of the nation.

“Disgust isn’t a strong enough word,” said Bianca Vara, a Democrat and grandmother of five in the Atlanta area who runs a stall at a flea market that crackles with discussions of politics.

She said she wanted leaders in Washington to address gun violence, or maybe just meaningfully crack down on the robocalls she gets. Instead, she watched with dismay as the Republican-controlled House was convulsed with an internecine melee.

“It’s worse than in elementary school,” she said.

McCarthy’s allies want to reinstate him to lead divided Republicans.

If Republicans aren’t able to line up behind either of the two leading contenders to be speaker of the House — Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio — there is a third possibility that a bloc of Republicans favors: the former speaker, Representative Kevin McCarthy.

The California Republican has said he does not intend to be a candidate, but some of his supporters have said they still intend to put him forward as the best person for the job. And Mr. McCarthy has previously said he would be open to the idea.

On Monday, less than a week after he was forced out of the position and said he wouldn’t run again, he was openly flirting with a return.

He summoned reporters to the Capitol to deliver remarks about the war unfolding in Israel in an event with all the trappings of his former position. Mr. McCarthy spoke from behind a lectern in the Rayburn Room, where the speaker often holds official ceremonies, and used the language of a party leader during a crisis.

He laid out a plan to respond to the Hamas attacks on Israel, including strengthening America’s borders, a campaign against antisemitism, and freezing any money for Iran, condemning what he called a new “evil axis of Iran, Russia and China.”

But Mr. McCarthy noted that without a gavel, neither he nor anyone else in a position to enact any plan.

“Unfortunately, the House can do nothing without a speaker,” he lamented.

Asked if he wanted to reclaim his job, Mr. McCarthy said that the decision was not up to him, and that he would support whatever his fellow Republicans wanted.

“I’ll allow the conference to make any decision,” he said.

But on Tuesday night, the former speaker opened a closed-door party meeting with a prayer he attributed to Mother Teresa about forgiving one’s enemies and asked his supporters not to nominate him. It was not clear whether they would heed his instructions.

Angelo Fichera

Fact check: It’s true, the Constitution doesn’t explicitly require the speaker to be a member.

WHAT WAS SAID

There are “Americans out there who wouldn’t necessarily need to be a member of the body to be considered for the speakership.”

— Representative Matt Gaetz

Republicans are feuding over whether to change the party’s rules for nominating a speaker.

Before Republicans attempt to choose a new speaker, they are arguing over whether they should change the rules for selecting one.

This morning, the conference plans to debate possible revisions to their internal party rules before the vote, including one that would require a near-unanimous vote among members of the party to nominate a candidate for speaker.

It’s intended to avoid repeating the embarrassing public fight in January that kicked off former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s tenure, in which he suffered through 15 floor votes before he won the gavel .

Allies of Mr. McCarthy and Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio and the Judiciary Committee chairman, have been pressing to raise the threshold a candidate for speaker would have to reach to be nominated, which could make it more difficult for Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, currently the No. 2 Republican, to win the nod.

Current party rules require a simple majority of the party’s members, 111 votes, to be nominated; Mr. Jordan and his allies want to require 217 votes, just short of a House majority.

The proposal by Representative Chip Roy, Republican of Texas, also would make the nomination vote inside the closed-door Republican meeting, which is done by secret ballot under the current rules, into a roll-call vote to be taken aloud. That would force lawmakers to stand in front of their colleagues and commit to a candidate, in a bid to make it more difficult for them to switch their allegiance when the full House votes.

Many lawmakers view the fight over the rule change as a proxy battle for who has broader support: Mr. Scalise, who opposes the change, or Mr. Jordan, who supports it.

Daniel Victor and Catie Edmondson

Who is Patrick McHenry, the interim House speaker?

With the House leaderless after a right-wing faction ousted Kevin McCarthy from the speakership on Tuesday, Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina will temporarily take up the gavel as interim speaker.

Mr. McHenry, 47, was elected to Congress in 2004 at age 29, a rabble-rousing presence on the House floor and on cable news shows. He was chief deputy whip to former Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, who once predicted that Mr. McHenry would one day become speaker.

But over the last 18 years, Mr. McHenry has taken on a more low-profile role in the House, working behind the scenes and earning a reputation among other lawmakers for brainy wonkishness.

“What changed for me was once I slowed down enough to respect the process and to respect the people that I served with in the institution,” Mr. McHenry told the News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C., in 2017.

Among the potential candidates to succeed Mr. McCarthy, Mr. McHenry is the only one who voted to certify the 2020 presidential election. On Saturday, he voted with Democrats for the stopgap spending measure to keep the government open.

Mr. McHenry, though, seems unlikely to take on the role permanently. He chose not to run for a leadership role last year, deciding to lead the financial services committee instead.

He is close to Mr. McCarthy, and in May helped to negotiate the debt limit deal that so infuriated the hard-liners who deposed Mr. McCarthy, averting a default. Mr. McHenry spoke in his defense on the House floor on Tuesday, crediting the former speaker with creating a “record of success” for conservatives.

Before Tuesday’s vote, Mr. McHenry argued that Democrats should think long-term and support Mr. McCarthy’s bid to remain speaker.

“I think we will have a far more functional House with his speakership going forward than any other person,” Mr. McHenry said on Monday.

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October 10, 2023 - Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise run to replace Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker

By Aditi Sangal , Mike Hayes and Jack Forrest , CNN

Meet the candidates: Steve Scalise, a veteran of House GOP leadership, is hoping to be speaker

From CNN's Clare Foran

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has risen through the ranks of leadership during his time in Congress. Now that Kevin McCarthy has been ousted from House speakership, the Louisiana Republican hopes to be elected to the post.

Scalise's pitch: He wrote a letter to colleagues asking for their support in the speaker’s race, referring to a shooting in 2017 that  left him seriously wounded , with a grueling, monthslong recovery process.

“I firmly believe this conference is a family. When I was shot in 2017, it was members of this conference who saved my life on that field,” he said. Scalise was shot by a gunman who opened fire as congressional Republicans were practicing for an annual charity baseball game.

“I love this country, and I believe we were sent here to come together and solve the immense challenges we face. As I face new challenges, I feel even more strongly about that today.”

Scalise's record: Scalise was elected to Congress in 2008. In the position of House majority leader, he oversees the House floor and scheduled legislation for votes. Before he became majority leader, Scalise served as House GOP whip, a role focused on vote counting and ensuring support for key party priorities. He supported objections to electoral college results when Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s presidential win on January 6, 2021.

Scalise's health: In August, Scalise  announced  that he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which he described as “a very treatable blood cancer.” In September, Scalise told reporters that in response to treatment, his cancer “has dropped dramatically.”

Criticism: In 2014, Scalise  faced intense blowback for having given a speech in 2002 to a White supremacist group founded by former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Scalise apologized and said in a statement that speaking to the group “was a mistake I regret, and I emphatically oppose the divisive racial and religious views groups like these hold.”

Meet the candidates: Trump ally Jim Jordan is running for House speaker

Rep. Jim Jordan, a key figure in high-profile House GOP-led investigations, is seeking the speaker’s gavel after  Kevin McCarthy was ousted  from the role and declined to run again in a major leadership shakeup.

The Ohio congressman is known as a staunch ally of Donald Trump and gained the endorsement of the former president Friday.

Jordan's pitch: He has  made a pitch for unity  to House Republicans, acknowledging the fractures within the conference following McCarthy’s exit. He has also downplayed concerns that he may be too conservative for some of the more moderate members of the GOP.

“I think we are a conservative, center-right party. I think I’m the guy who can help unite that. My politics are entirely consistent with where conservatives and Republicans are across the country,” Jordan told CNN’s Manu Raju.

Jordan's record in Congress: He has served in Congress since 2007. He is chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, has a longstanding reputation as a conservative agitator, and helped found the hardline House Freedom Caucus. Jordan is also the chair of the select subcommittee on the “weaponization” of the federal government. He supported objections to electoral college results when Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s presidential win on January 6, 2021.

Criticism: Democrats frequently criticize Jordan as a hyper-partisan Trump defender and have accused him of using his perch to shield the former president in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election. As Jordan oversees key House GOP investigations, Democrats also point to the fact that he stonewalled  in response to a subpoena for his testimony from the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

Allegations: CNN reported in 2020  that six former Ohio State University wrestlers said they were present when Jordan heard or responded to sexual misconduct complaints about team doctor Richard Strauss. Jordan has emphatically denied that he knew anything about Strauss’ abuse during his own years working at OSU, between 1987 and 1995.

CNN’s Haley Talbot, Annie Grayer and Curt Devine contributed to this report.

House GOP conference remains deeply divided amid search for next speaker

From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Manu Raju, Melanie Zanona, Annie Grayer and Lauren Fox

House Republicans gathered for the first time since last week’s historic  vote to oust Kevin McCarthy , but the two-hour session left them no closer toward coalescing around a speaker nominee and a path forward as they debate potential rules changes and grapple with the raw feelings lingering after the unprecedented events of last week.

While the impetus on Republicans to pick a new speaker escalated after the  terrorist attack in Israel  over the weekend, the House GOP conference remains bitterly divided over how it should proceed – and who can get the 217 votes needed to lead it.

Republicans are preparing for the prospect that neither House Majority Leader  Steve Scalise  of Louisiana nor House Judiciary Chairman  Jim Jordan  of Ohio can get the votes to be elected speaker, leaving the conference with no clear path forward. They’re also divided over the rules that the conference will use to elect a new speaker – while hoping to avoid the embarrassment  of the 15-vote marathon  that played out for McCarthy in January.

“The House needs to get back to work, and that means we’ve got to select the speaker, and you saw strong resolve to make sure that we can come together quickly (to) get our speaker elected,” Scalise told reporters following a marathon two-hour conference meeting Monday evening.

House Republicans are slated to hear again from Scalise and Jordan on Tuesday evening for a candidate forum, but it’s unlikely that another meeting will solve the conference’s simmering issues.

The Monday session also gave lawmakers the chance to vent about  the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy  and left the House speakerless. GOP lawmakers made clear their emotions are still raw, and it will take ample time to find consensus after the unprecedented events of last week.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin told CNN he wasn’t ready to back a candidate.

“I’m not backing anyone, until we deal with the fact that we have people in our conference who could shut this House down on a whim again,” Orden said.

Read more about the race for the next House speaker here .

The rules for removing a House speaker have become central to the race to replace McCarthy

From CNN's Melanie Zanona, Manu Raju and Annie Grayer

A key contingent of moderate Republicans are laying out demands for House speakership candidates . Chief among them: winning assurances the government doesn’t shut down in mid-November, and changing the rules so it requires more than a single lawmaker to call for a vote and seek the ouster of a sitting speaker, as Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida just did to Rep. Kevin McCarthy.

“I want to see conference rules change,” said Rep. Max Miller, a freshman from Ohio. “I want to see the motion to vacate go back up to a majority of the majority at 112.”

Remember: "Motion to vacate" is the name of the procedure used to remove a speaker. When he was trying to win the job in January, McCarthy agreed to rules that allow just one member to initiate a motion to vacate — significantly lowering the bar for voting on ousting the chamber's leader. Some hardliners are insisting that rule stay in place.

Asked if he could commit to backing a candidate who doesn’t commit to changing the powerful rule, Miller said: “It’s going to be very tough.”

Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana told CNN he wants to discuss the rule changes before holding speaker elections, telling reporters last week, “I think before we have a single discussion about the speaker, we’ve got to discuss the functionality of the position.”

During his call with the business-minded Main Street Caucus on Thursday, contender Rep. Jim Jordan said any changes to the motion to vacate would need to be a conference decision, a source on the call said, but he sounded open to changing it.

The battle to win the House speakership could hinge on moderate Republicans

The battle to win  the House speakership  could hinge on a contingent of more moderate Republicans uneasy about the conservative politics of  their two leading candidates  and angry at their hardline faction for ousting Kevin McCarthy in last week’s unprecedented floor vote.

Behind the scenes, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio have been making a direct pitch to more centrist members, both insisting they will make their reelection battles a priority and ensure more stability atop the badly divided conference, according to sources familiar with the conversations.

Jordan and Scalise have made overtures to a bloc of New York Republicans who are among the most vulnerable in the House and would be considered a key prize for whichever candidate wins them over.

Scalise met virtually with the House Freedom Caucus on Sunday afternoon as he tried to lock down support ahead of a secret-ballot leadership election Wednesday to nominate a candidate for speaker, according to a person familiar with the matter. The move comes after Jordan met with the same group on Friday.

Jordan is also targeting a key constituency that is seen as up for grabs: moderate members who were loyal to McCarthy. Over the years, the former speaker has had a tepid relationship with Scalise, his top deputy, as the two were long seen as potential rivals. McCarthy, though, is staying neutral in the race right now.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida, a McCarthy ally who considers himself center right, said Jordan “certainly can win me over.”

“He was one of Kevin McCarthy’s most vocal supporters,” Gimenez told CNN. “And you know what? That carries a lot of weight.”

Jordan gained a  key endorsement Friday from former President Donald Trump.

In a post on Truth Social shortly after midnight, Trump said Jordan “will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!”

While his backing could boost Jordan’s support on the right, it won’t do much to sway moderates.

But many members are keeping their powder dry, worried that neither candidate would be able to win the support of nearly every Republican on the floor. That means the House could see a prolonged race, much like in January. Some members are holding out hope for a dark-horse candidate to emerge, potentially the interim speaker, Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, who so far hasn’t taken steps for a possible run.

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Scalise says Biden presidency legitimate, but refuses to say election wasn't 'stolen'

He also said more money for schools unnecessary if US not focused on reopening

President Joe Biden is the legitimate winner of the November election now that electoral votes have been counted, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise , R-La., said Sunday on ABC's "This Week," but he would not say the election wasn't "stolen."

After serving as president for just over a month and despite the fact that over 60 lawsuits were litigated and almost entirely thrown out by courts across the country, Scalise did not concede on the legitimacy of the election after being asked by ABC Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl.

"Look, Joe Biden is the president," Scalise said. "There were a few states that did not follow their state laws, that's really the dispute that you've seen continue on."

Karl challenged Scalise on the extent of Biden's win.

"I know Joe Biden is the president. He lives at the White House. I asked you, is he the legitimate president of the United States and can you concede that this election was not stolen," Karl asked. "Very simple question. Please just answer it."

"Once the electors are counted, yes he's the legitimate president. But if you're going to ignore the fact that there were states that did not follow their own state legislatively set laws. That's the issue at heart, that millions of people still are not happy with and don't want to see happen again," Scalise said.

Karl also asked Scalise about his recent trip to visit former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago and pressed him on whether he asked the former president to take responsibility for the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

MORE: In new defense, dozens of Capitol rioters say law enforcement 'let us in' to building

"When you met with the former president did you ask him to take him responsibility, did he take responsibility?" Karl asked.

"Well, Jonathan, I was in Florida doing some fundraising throughout a number of parts of Florida -- ended up at Mar-a-Lago. The president reached out, we visited -- I hadn't seen him since he left the White House. It was good to catch up with him. He was a lot more relaxed than his four years in the White House," he said.

"But, wait a minute, he hasn't taken responsibility -- you heard Kevin McCarthy say -- do you agree with what McCarthy said there, that the president must take responsibility -- the facts demand he take responsibility for what happened on January 6th?" Karl pressed.

Scalise refused to say explicitly whether Trump should accept any of the blame.

"I wrote a Wall Street Journal editorial about where I think the responsibility lies for January 6th," Scalise said. "And surely there's a lot of blame to go around but at the end of the day, the people who were in the Capitol on the 6th of January, they need to be held accountable. In fact, over 180 have already been arrested."

"President Trump has denounced what happened. And I think everybody should have been equivocal in their denouncing of what happened, not only on Jan. 6, but during the summer when they were burning down cities, shooting cops, beating people in the streets," he added.

Karl also pushed Scalise on his stance on reopening schools and using additional coronavirus relief funds to do so.

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"But if you look at what the priority should be -- it should be the children -- and that's not the case because right now you can see as the unions have stepped up and said that they don't want in-classroom learning," Scalise said. "They need to be in the classroom today, the science says they can be in the classroom today. The question is, is the will there for some politicians in Washington who are bowing to the teachers unions right now?"

MORE: Anthony Fauci now says elementary students won't get vaccinated until early 2022, after high schoolers in fall

Biden's plan to return students to school with another coronavirus relief package -- which would provide additional money to state and local governments -- is unnecessary, Scalise told Karl, pointing to unused funds from previously passed relief bills.

Karl pushed Scalise on his view of the federal government's role when it comes to making a decision about when children should return to schools.

"Congressman, the White House is not mandating that the states do anything on this. They have issued guidance from the CDC. Are you suggesting that the president should be effectively ordering local school districts to reopen?" Karl asked.

"Right, I strongly agree that education should be run at the local school system," Scalise said. "But what what Jen Psaki just said is, I think, the biggest concern. That is, they're saying they want to pass over $100 billion of new money that's not even tied to schools reopening," he added, responding to the White House press secretary who said in an earlier interview with Karl that the administration had no plans to tie additional coronavirus relief funding to reopening schools.

MORE: Joe Biden could visit Texas as soon as this week, White House press secretary says

"Let's target the money, but this idea that Washington should be giving out $100-plus billion of new money to school and not even requiring them to reopen -- that's an insult to those children who are demanding they go back to school," he added.

A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 68% of Americans polled said that they support Biden's $1.9 trillion relief package. Karl pressed Scalise on the congressional GOP's resistance to passing another package.

"Biden may not have many -- any -- Republicans in Congress on board. But he must, according to the polling anyway, have a lot of Republicans across the country in favor of what he's trying to do," Karl said.

Scalise told Karl that if Americans knew the extent of unspent dollars in relief, they may answer differently.

"Well Jon, you don't have to be a good pollster from Washington ask the question, 'Hey would you like the federal government to send you a $3,500 check?' Of course the answer is going to be yes. If you said, 'Do you want us to borrow that money from your children?' because that's what this is, I think their answer might be a lot (different)," Scalise said.

"And we're going to pass $1.9 trillion of additional spending to bail out failed states, to raise the minimum wage. What does that have to do with COVID? It should be focused on helping families and small businesses who are struggling, not bankrupting our children by Congress," he added.

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• Coronavirus

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Scalise: Biden is Living in a Parallel Universe

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  Today, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Fox Business Network’s Mornings with Maria Bartiromo to discuss House Republicans’ successes, despite a razor-thin majority. Leader Scalise highlighted the need for new leadership in the White House, with President Biden being increasingly out of touch with reality and the disastrous consequences of his radical policies continuing to hurt American families as inflation and crime remain out of control.

Click here or the image above to view Leader Scalise's full interview. 

On House Republicans’ slim majority:  “Well, the House has been taking care of its business but we have a one-seat majority and as you pointed out, razor-thin. It got more razor-thin when Mike Gallagher resigned just the other day. So you know, that means every vote we take, our majority literally is just one. If more than one person says they want to go a different direction then we're not going to be able to pass that bill. But we've done a lot of big things. Look at what we did with H.R. 2, our strong border security package that we passed when the Senate could not come together to pass anything. They tried to pass an open borders bill. We passed a strong border security package with a very narrow razor-thin majority and every Democrat walking away, keep in mind, not a single Democrat voted to secure America's border. And yet we still passed that bill through the House.   “So when it came time to come together, this House has continued to deliver for the American people. We need the White House, Maria. We need Donald Trump back in the White House, working to get our economy back on track, to secure our border, to get energy security again, and to stand up to the evil people around the world who want to do not just us harm, but our allies around the world.” On Members choosing to retire early: “Right, or not leave at all, serve out the rest of his term. And we had that conversation too. And look, at the end of the day, you know, he's free to do whatever he chooses. He chose to do that; I wish he would not have. At the other end of the spectrum, we have a number of special elections coming up for Kevin McCarthy’s own seat in California. That's going to be a Republican win for us next month. We have to wait a few more weeks to get that special election through. But even with that one, we’d then have a two [seat] razor-thin majority. We'd then go from one to two.  “The most important thing, Maria, is having a majority and not having the minority. Not having Hakeem Jeffries as the speaker means Joe Biden's agenda doesn't move through the House . Joe Biden, when he laid out in his State of the Union that crazy far-left agenda, he wants to raise more taxes; he wants to lock in the Green New Deal; he wants to lock in open borders. None of that is going to happen under our House Majority. Clearly, we've shown a different direction than Joe Biden. But the country is going to have to decide this in November because Joe Biden does not want to work with Republicans to solve these big problems. We've shown the country how to solve them, Maria, it's not complicated. Joe Biden refuses to sit down and even negotiate. Donald Trump needs to be the President of the United States if we want to get our country back on track.” On Biden doubling down on his radical agenda: “Well, he’s doubling down on divisiveness. You saw that in his State of the Union address, probably the most divisive State of the Union anyone's seen. He's living in a parallel universe. He can’t even really come to celebrate Easter Sunday. He thinks the economy is doing great – most hardworking families will tell you it's not because of Joe Biden's policies. And by the way, they're furious about this open southern border , when they see thousands of people a day coming across, including people on the terrorist watch list. You've seen Chinese nationals of military age coming across every single day now.  “And Joe Biden lets it happen. He could stop it on his own today, with his own pen that he signs all those executive orders with; but he won't because he wants this to happen and families are fed up with it. It's why President Trump's doing so well in those swing states you mentioned like Michigan, like Wisconsin, of course Pennsylvania and others.” On the politicization of the justice system against Trump: “People have seen through it: They see the politicization of government being used to weaponize government against the political opponents of Joe Biden. And they're disgusted by it, as they should be. This is not a third-world nation. We shouldn't be operating like this. When you see Letitia James and other prosecutors abusing their position to go after people not to say, ‘Hey, we're going to put bad guys in jail’, but to say ‘Hey, I'm not I don't like that person. So I'm going to go put that person in jail, whether they did something wrong or not.’ That's not how America works and people are sickened by it.” On the issue of squatters: “Well, I know it’s something that we’re looking at. I applaud what Flordia just did and you see a few other states following behind it – in fact, a number of other states – because it's gotten so out of control. And you see illegals coming in, posting YouTube videos showing people how to do this. It’s so brazen. That again, this is all part of Joe Biden's open border policy. It's an offshoot of it. It's not the only reason you've got this problem, but this is what happens when you have a lawless America. Where you have a party, the Democratic Party who wants to defund the police, who doesn't respect rule of law. Let's get back to property ownership, the rights of the hard-working people who made this country great, who are sacrificing every day in this reality of Joe Biden's tough economy. They know how tough it is, even if Joe Biden doesn't.”

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Michelle Steel

California (CA) – 45th, Republican

Hometown: Orange County

Oath of Office: Jan. 07, 2023

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