Opposition to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s (R-LA) Speaker bid has appeared to grow, as Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) predicted that there are 30 to 40 Republicans against him.
Norman, who said he would vote for Scalise during the first round of votes, said there are dozens of Republicans that do not support his bid.
NORMAN predicts there are 30-40 hard no’s for Scalise.
— Mica Soellner (@MicaSoellnerDC) October 12, 2023
He plans to vote for him only on the first round during the floor vote solely because he told him he would, so he is keeping his word.
Even though Scalise secured the Republican nomination to be Speaker, it remains clear that he does not have enough votes to become the leader of the House.
Scalise has appeared to sway holdouts against his bid as more Republicans come out against him or for other Republicans.
Rep. Carlos Giminez (R-FL) said, “I’m for [Kevin] McCarthy.”
“It’s fairly obvious to everyone that Steve Scalise does not have the votes,” Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) said.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said she is calling to have Scalise step aside, saying that he cannot obtain the 217 votes to become Speaker. The Florida conservative has backed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).
“I do think that if it’s not Jim Jordan, that we need to find someone and quickly,” she said.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) said:
Just for clarification: I was one of the earliest endorsers for Jim Jordan for Speaker. I whipped hard for his support around the Republican conference and I enthusiastically voted for Jim for speaker yesterday. Jim is a great conservative and I was proud to be one of his strongest supporters.
Last night when we voted, Steve Scalise received the majority of votes. Jim Jordan withdrew his name from consideration and pledged to vote for Steve Scalise, as did I. It is now up to Scalise to get 217 votes on the floor of the House. If Steve Scalise can’t win the Speakership, I will be aggressively urging Jim to put his name back in the race.
Just for clarification: I was one of the earliest endorsers for Jim Jordan for Speaker. I whipped hard for his support around the Republican conference and I enthusiastically voted for Jim for speaker yesterday. Jim is a great conservative and I was proud to be one of his…
— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) October 12, 2023
However, it does appear that Scalise has one staunch supporter as Republicans continue to oppose his bid.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw said regarding Republicans who will not back Scalise, “I think they should all resign their congressional seat unless they get 100% of their district to vote for them.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
