Scalise struggles to secure House speakership
FOX News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram has the latest on drama since the ousting of Rep. Kevin McCarthy on 'Special Report.'
House Republicans are once again left scrambling for a leader after Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., stepped back from being speaker-designate on Thursday night.
Scalise won a closed-door secret ballot vote to be the House GOP’s new candidate for speaker on Wednesday afternoon. However, it quickly became clear that he did not have the 217 votes needed to win a House-wide vote.
Republicans could begin voting on a new candidate as soon as Thursday, and several names have been floated as possible nominees.
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Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was one of two formally declared candidates in the recent speaker race (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Jordan was the only other formally declared candidate in the House GOP’s race for speaker, netting 99 votes to Scalise’s 113.
He had dozens more public endorsements than Scalise, however, and despite publicly backing the Louisiana Republican after the first conference vote, several members still said they would vote for him on the House floor.
"My voters are breaking about 87% for Jordan. So we're doing polling back in the district, and my job is to represent them," Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., said on Thursday morning. He added that Jordan had not personally dissuaded him from voting in his favor on the House floor.
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But Jordan’s reputation as a bomb-thrower has made a significant share of the House GOP’s moderates wary.
Jordan did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital's question about whether he would renew his speaker bid.
Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn.
Two lawmakers told Fox News Digital that Emmer, who currently holds the No. 3 leadership spot within the House GOP, had been floating a run for speaker behind the scenes even while publicly backing Scalise.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., was also suggested to be mulling a bid for speaker
He’s publicly said he was interested in the majority leader role — which Scalise is now retaining after backing out of the race.
One of the GOP lawmakers said Emmer would have been "whipping votes for our speaker candidate" if he were "running for majority leader."
Before Scalise stepped back on Thursday, the second GOP lawmaker said Emmer had been "trying to position himself as the fallback" amid concerns over Scalise’s recent cancer diagnosis.
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Asked about those claims before Scalise stepped back, Emmer’s spokesperson told Fox News Digital: "Whip Emmer was one of the first people to publicly endorse Leader Scalise’s bid to become Speaker. He is focused on ensuring that happens."
They did not immediately respond to a question about his plans following Scalise's withdrawal.
Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., told Fox News Digital when asked about the possibility of Emmer as a candidate, "I think he would be viable at some point."
Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry is speaker pro tempore (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
McHenry, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, is serving as interim speaker while a new one is being decided.
He’s distanced himself from the idea of running for the gavel – but reports indicate that some GOP lawmakers are looking to at least extend his tenure by fleshing out the vague boundaries of his role.
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Additionally, Fox News learned earlier on Thursday, ahead of Scalise’s announcement, that a few Republicans were exploring ways to temporarily empower McHenry with certain authorities until mid-November, when the current continuing resolution on funding the government is supposed to expire.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, publicly threw cold water on the idea ahead of Scalise’s ouster on Thursday.
"I’m not going to speculate on Patrick unless Patrick wants to speculate about running. I mean, it's just not a thing right now," he told Fox News Digital.
Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report
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