Scalise to pitch to GOP holdouts as House speaker race remains uncertain

House Republicans are gathering behind closed doors on Thursday afternoon to hear from their speaker nominee, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., as he works to win over enough support for a chamber-wide vote.

Scalise won a majority of the GOP conference’s support during a closed-door vote to elect their new candidate for speaker on Wednesday.

But it quickly became clear that Scalise did not have the support needed to win a House-wide vote. With just a razor-thin majority, he can only afford to lose four GOP members to still clinch the gavel without Democratic support.

Scalise will make his case to GOP holdouts during another closed-door meeting Thursday, which is scheduled to take place at 12:15 p.m. ET.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS CHOOSE SCALISE AS THEIR CANDIDATE FOR SPEAKER AFTER MCCARTHY'S OUSTER

House Republicans elected House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise as their speaker nominee. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Sources told Fox News Digital that as of Wednesday night, as many as 20 people were still opposed to Scalise. That’s despite his rival for the gavel, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, publicly telling people to back Scalise.

Scalise spent much of Wednesday huddled behind closed doors with allies and holdouts alike, and there were mixed results.

‘UNMITIGATED S---SHOW’: HOUSE REPUBLICANS FUME OVER SPEAKER VACANCY AMID ISRAEL CRISIS

Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, lost to Scalise in a closed-door vote. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., had been leaning toward supporting Jordan after the closed-door vote. But she left a meeting with GOP leadership that evening telling reporters she was behind Scalise.

"After talking to Rep. Scalise, I feel very confident that he's going to allow me to aggressively pursue justice for this country and this nation. And so I'll be supporting him on the floor," Luna said.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said she would be supporting Scalise after leaning toward Jordan. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

"But again, that is because he will be aggressively allowing me to pursue and do my job. And so I just want to let the American people know that right now we are facing a weaponized government. And this is incredibly important that we bring justice."

Others, however, were not as convinced. Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, left the House Republican leadership suite in a hurry on Wednesday evening, only telling reporters, "I’m still a no on Scalise, and that’s not changing."

Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

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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