Scalise, Jordan make final pitch to House Republicans ahead of GOP speaker vote

House Republicans met behind closed doors for over two hours on Tuesday night to hear from Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, as they made their final pitches to be elected the next speaker. 

The caucus will gather again Wednesday morning for a closed-door vote to pick their candidate before nominating them on the House floor. 

Some GOP lawmakers appeared optimistic in getting a new speaker by the end of the week, while others suggested it would be a drawn-out process.

"I don't know that there's going to be a speaker tomorrow morning. We're gonna find out. I think it's 50/50 odds right now," Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., told reporters after the meeting.

Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital it will be "very difficult" for the conference to reach a consensus on Wednesday morning. 

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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, left, and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, right, are both running for House Speaker (Getty Images)

"I think it's going to take more than one day to get this done. I kind of wish we had started this process earlier today and done a couple rounds of votes," Murphy said. "It was a good evening. I mean, a lot of people ask some good, pointed questions. Good discussion. We'll see. I think, honestly, I think it'd be pretty split almost even."

Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., similarly doubted a speaker would be selected this week. She said she asked the candidates about whether any "back room deals" were being made in exchange for support in an allusion to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s rocky election in January.

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"The number one question that I posed to the candidates today was, for 10 months, we have been hearing of nothing but backroom deals and promises that have been made and then supposedly broken," she said. 

Rep. Kat Cammack, a Republican from Florida, expressed doubt that lawmakers will pick a speaker tomorrow (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"So my question to the candidates, has someone come to you with a request in exchange for a vote? And if so, what was it? And only one candidate came out point-blank and said that they have told people, come with requests, that they will not honor requests… I think that’s very telling."

She said that candidate was Jordan.

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But others were more optimistic. House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital that "the mood in the room" was "very cordial" when asked why he believed the GOP will select a speaker on Wednesday.

"Both of them did a great job. Of course, I’m for Jordan. But it’s very encouraging," Norman said, adding that he would vote for Scalise if the majority fell that way.

But Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., was more optimistic when talking to Fox News Digital (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., who is supporting Jordan, said she would also vote for whichever of the two candidates was chosen. 

"I will support whoever is the majority vote-getter tomorrow. I'm supporting Jim Jordan; if it turns out to be Scalise, I will probably go cast my vote for him on the floor," Malliotakis told Fox News Digital. "I hope others are going to make that same commitment."

Ahead of their 10am election tomorrow, House Republicans are expected to consider a rule about whether to raise the threshold for nominating a speaker candidate from a simple majority of the conference to 217 members — a full House majority.

Elizabeth Elkind is a reporter for Fox News Digital focused on Congress as well as the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and politics. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

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