A group of conservative holdouts dashed Republicans’ plans to elect a new House Speaker on Wednesday, leaving the chamber paralyzed for a second week as lawmakers struggled to unite their conference behind a candidate.
Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana had hoped to claim the speaker’s gavel Wednesday and immediately bring up a resolution supporting Israel in its fight against Hamas, the terrorist organization that invaded the country and killed more than 1,000 over the weekend.
But despite winning a majority of GOP votes in a closed-door meeting, Mr. Scalise, a reliable conservative who is the majority leader, couldn’t round up 217 GOP lawmakers needed to win the gavel in a House floor vote. Mr. Scalise garnered 113 votes, more than his rival, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who received 99.
Without an elected speaker, the House remains unable to legislate.
Rank-and-file Republicans are growing increasingly frustrated with their fringe of hardline conservatives who make up the bulk of holdouts.
Some of them are among the rogue handful of hardline conservatives who voted with Democrats last week to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy, leaving the chamber rudderless.
“Frankly, I think it would be easier in a political environment where people understood that governing requires some give and take,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota. “There are a lot of people around here who don’t understand and it makes it hard to govern.”
Many of the holdouts say they plan to vote for Mr. Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who narrowly lost the party’s nomination for speaker to Mr. Scalise in the GOP’s secret ballot vote Wednesday.
Mr. Jordan and Mr. Scalise are largely aligned politically, but Mr. Jordan is considered more conservative and is a hero among Republican hardliners who have long admired his willingness to stand up to the GOP leadership on spending cuts and major policy issues such as border security.
Mr. Jordan has since rallied behind Mr. Scalise and even plans to nominate him on the House floor. But enough holdouts who have longed for a Speaker Jordan aren’t budging, thwarting Mr. Scalise’s floor win.
“I will be voting for Jim Jordan to be speaker of the House on the floor when the vote is called,” said Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado after Republicans nominated Mr. Scalise. “The American people deserve a real change in leadership, not a continuation of the status quo.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, said she plans to vote for Mr. Jordan, whom she said “is prepared to take on the fight” against the Democrats in the Senate and White House.
Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Thomas Massie of Kentucky said they were not ready to back Mr. Scalise.
Rather than hold a floor vote that will likely produce no winner, Republicans are punting until at least Thursday, giving them more time to twist arms or otherwise plead for cooperation from more than half a dozen GOP lawmakers who are refusing to back Mr. Scalise.
The Democrats won’t help. They have nominated Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York for speaker.
The House has been shuttered since last week, when eight hardline conservatives voted with all Democrats to oust Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, from the speaker’s chair.
The House clerk has appointed Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina to serve as temporary speaker, but his authority is limited to gaveling in and out of session and the oversight of the speaker’s election. He cannot conduct legislative business.
Mr. McHenry executed one of his few powers on Wednesday, gaveling the House in recess for the night around 7 p.m.
Mr. McCarthy said it’s now up to Mr. Scalise to talk to the holdouts and figure out “what their concerns are.”
Some of it involves the still-unresolved fiscal 2024 spending legislation.
Mr. Massie said he wants to see a plan that will ensure the House votes for spending bills separately and not lumped together in one piece of legislation.
Some Republicans said the GOP should have remained in a closed session until either Mr. Scalise or Mr. Jordan could win the 217 votes, not just a majority of the conference.
Three of the votes for Mr. Scalise were cast by delegates, who cannot participate in the House floor vote for speaker. A dozen Republicans did not vote for either Mr. Scalise or Mr. Jordan.
“I wouldn’t have left that room,” said Rep. Troy Nehls, Texas Republican. “Right now, I don’t know if you’re gonna get 99 or even 90 to support Steve.”
Earlier in the day, Mr. Scalise expressed confidence that he’d be able to come up with the 217 votes.
Mr. Scalise said his first action after he wins the gavel will be to bring up a resolution, written by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul of Texas, supporting Israel as it works to defeat the terrorist organization Hamas.
“We see how dangerous of a world it is, and how things can change so quickly,” Mr. Scalise said. “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.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.