Rep. Steve Scalise announced Thursday evening that he is dropping out of the race to become Speaker of the House of Representatives after failing to secure anywhere near enough votes to win the position.
Similar to the January push that handed Rep. Kevin McCarthy the gavel, some Republicans had hoped to just push Scalise through by holding a floor vote just hours after the nominating vote. Not only did it not work, the response by the majority of House Republicans made it impossible to even hold a full floor vote.
With Scalise out, another nomination vote needs to be held. Whoever is nominated will then be put up before a full House vote where they will need to secure 217 votes to become the next Speaker of the House.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio is the only Republican House member currently in the race. Democrats are unified behind House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, but without GOP votes he doesn’t stand a chance. Some have offered up former President Donald Trump as House speaker and the current presidential candidate said he would take the gavel temporarily, but that he was focused on his run for the White House.
It is possible that other House Republicans will now enter the race to replace McCarthy, but the support for Jordan is strong and it is unlikely that anyone could garner enough votes to beat him out of the nomination.
It remains to be seen if Jordan can build a strong enough coalition to get the 217 needed to secure the speakership.
*this is a developing story and may be updated
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Newsmax pundits are indicating that Jordan will not have enough votes either. This is turning into a clown show. Gaetz was pissed at McCarthy for working with the Dems to fund the Gov but then he turns around and works with Dems to oust McCarthy as speaker. Gaetz looks like the head clown in this show.