Steve Scalise drops out of race for Speaker of the House

We’re going into the 10th day where the Speaker’s seat has remained vacant

Despite Steve Scalise being the Republican’s first nominee for Speaker of the House following McCarthy’s historic removal, he decided to drop out of the race—withdrawing on Thursday October 12th, 2023.

GET CAUGHT UP: Kevin McCarthy removed as Speaker of the House

It was reported that, Scalise, who is the House majority leader, was unable to garner the necessary 217 votes for the seat due to a few House Republicans refusing to support his bid. Republicans control the House by a narrow 221-212 margin — only four Republicans would need to cast opposing votes to shut down a nominees bid.

According to a report by Reuters, House Republicans convened yesterday, attempting to select the next nominee. However, they failed. The scramble to nominate the next Speaker is no less scrambled following meetings yesterday.

They are expected to reconvene today at 10am. Today is Friday, October 13th, 2023.

Patrick McHenry, who is temporarily acting as Speaker, could be a potential fallback in the event that multiple house votes fail, perpetuating the vacancy.

Alternatively, Jim Jordan has also been suggested for the role. He seems to have a solid base of populist supporters, as well as an endorsement from Donald Trump. It is unclear as to how much support he would have from House Republicans.

In a report by The Hill, they wrote that Liz Cheney believes Jim Jordan would lose a bid for the seat. Here is a clip for some footage captured by The Recount where she points to alleged impropriety concerning Jim Jordan’s actions on and around January 6th.

As this race unfolds, we will continue to provide updates.