Steve Scalise drops out of House speaker race



Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana announced Thursday evening that he was withdrawing his bid to become the speaker of the House.

“I just shared with my colleagues that I’m withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker designee," said Scalise to reporters.

"If you look at over the last few weeks, if you look at where our conference is, there's still work to be done. Our conference still has to come together, and is not there," he continued.

"There's still some people that have their own agendas, and I was very clear, we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs," Scalise added. "This country is counting on us to come back together. This House of Representatives needs a speaker, and we need to open up the House again, but clearly, not everybody is there, and there's still schisms that need to be resolved."

The speaker role had been vacant since Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) of Florida persuaded a handful of Republican members to vote against the former speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California after lambasting him for voting with Democrats on a budget compromise.

Former President Donald Trump added to the chaos when he said he would be willing to temporarily fill the speaker role in order to allow members of the party to mend their differences.

Democrats and others have criticized the rift in the Republican Party for crippling the parliamentary process at a time when Israel is under terror attack and Congress needs to address the nation's foreign policy goals.

Scalise scolded some members of the party for not putting the country ahead of their own narrow interests.

"There are some folks that really need to look in the mirror over the next couple of days and decide are we gonna get it back on track, or are they gonna try to pursue their own agenda," he said.

"You can't do both, and I think we're gonna get there," Scalise added.

Here's more about Scalise dropping out:

Scalise drops out of House speaker race www.youtube.com

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Anti-Pelosi rebels claim to have enough support to block her from speakership

A rebellious contingent of House Democrats are claiming they have the votes to stop Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., from becoming speaker of the House, demanding new leadership and putting current Democratic leadership on defense.

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., told Roll Call Tuesday he is "100 percent confident" that the anti-Pelosi faction has enough votes and commitments to keep Pelosi from being elected House speaker in a floor vote. He is part of an effort to gather signatures on a letter calling for new leadership that is intended to show the strength of the opposition.

“The goal is to get to critical mass, and people realize it’s just time to move on,” Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., said.

Democrats are scheduled to vote on a nominee for House speaker on November 28. The speaker of the House is elected by a simple majority of the 435 members composing the House of Representatives. Democrats in rebellion against Pelosi can vote with Republicans against her, barring her from the speakership.

Though there is no declared candidate opposing Pelosi, Moulton expects one will emerge when it becomes clear she doesn't have the votes to lead.

“The point is, once it’s clear that Pelosi doesn’t have the votes, there are other people — we have enormous talent in our caucus — there are other people that will step forward,” Moulton said.

Countering the effort, Pelosi and her supporters in the House are arguing that pushing a woman out of Democratic leadership after more than 100 women were just elected to Congress "would be wrong."

“I think it would look ridiculous if we win back the House … we have a pink wave with women who have brought back the House, then you’re going to not elect the leader who led the way? No,” Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., told Politico. Frankel leads the Democratic Women’s Working Group.

"We have a president who is a misogynist, a president who has been antagonistic to women’s issues. … There is no better person at the very top than [Pelosi],” said incoming Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas.

Now isn't that funny? Democratic leadership and its lackeys are using identity politics to quell the rebels. A vote against Pelosi will be an anti-women vote. It doesn't matter how unpopular Pelosi is or how damaging her continued leadership is to the Democratic Party.

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Report: House GOP prepares quick leadership vote — which would benefit McCarthy

House Republicans reportedly are planning to hold leadership elections just one week after the midterm elections, a move likely intended to give Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. an advantage for the number one position in the GOP conference over his more conservative challenger, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Three unnamed "senior Republican sources" who spoke to Politico said an election to select the next speaker of the House and party minority or majority leader will likely be held November 14. McCarthy, the current House majority leader, is widely expected to run for speaker if Republicans retain their majority after the November elections. In the case of a Republican minority, McCarthy will likely seek the minority leader position as Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., assumes the speakership. Jordan is a declared candidate for the speakership, running with national support from grassroots conservatives.

Holding the vote earlier helps McCarthy fend off Jordan's challenge by deciding GOP leadership before the December 7 deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which governs border security, and several other agencies. The crux of Jordan's argument to be leader is that Republicans need to "do what we said." That means if Republicans promised to build a wall and secure the border, they need to confront the Democrats on wall funding and force them into a tough spot. Under Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Republican tactic has been to avoid a government "shutdown" by any means possible, even refusing to have a debate with the Democrats on funding priorities. Jordan has previously argued against this surrender tactic and in favor of using must-pass funding bills as leverage to advance conservative policies.

But what would McCarthy do? Having the leadership elections before the next shutdown fight shields McCarthy from responsibility for how he leads the GOP conference through that fight. Will he continue to lead like Paul Ryan? Or will he change the way Republicans operate as leader? House members and conservatives won't know the answer until after the speaker election if it is held this early.

Conservative lawmakers know this, and Politico reports they may attempt to delay the leadership vote for that reason. Holding an early leadership election to benefit McCarthy is a typical swamp tactic. It's representative of everything President Trump was elected to stand against. Republicans should delay the vote.

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Speaker front-runner? Poll finds Jim Jordan has slight lead among Republicans

In the race to succeed House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., conservative Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, holds a slight lead among Republicans.

A new poll by The Economist/YouGov found Jordan is favored by 18 percent of those polled, followed by House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., at 16 percent. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., came in at third place with 8 percent support.

However, 45 percent of those polled said they were still undecided about who should succeed Ryan as speaker. Only 1 percent said it should be someone else.

Jordan announced his candidacy for House speaker in July and is seen as the consensus choice for the job among the conservative grassroots. Majority Leader McCarthy enjoys the endorsement of the establishment and Speaker Ryan, however, and President Donald Trump has signaled his support for McCarthy. Scalise has publicly deferred to McCarthy and is unlikely to make a challenge for the job unless McCarthy shows signs of vulnerability.

The succession for House leadership is a question that will be determined after the midterm elections. Conservatives need to prepare to take on the establishment for leadership in the House Republican conference. This will be the most important fight to determine how the last two years of President Trump's first term will play out in Congress. If Democrats take control of the House, Republican leadership will need to be an effective opposition, and a fighter like Jordan is a better man for the hour than a grandstander like McCarthy.

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