Republicans nominate Steve Scalise for top job in the US Congress
58-year-old Steve Scalise of Louisiana
Source: AFP/ALMOND NGAN
After the Republicans voted out Kevin McCarthy as chairman of the House of Representatives last week, the position must be filled. Steve Scalise, the previous Republican number two, was nominated. However, the final decision was postponed.
bAccording to the media, the Republicans have nominated Representative Steve Scalise in their search for a candidate for the presidency of the US House of Representatives. Scalise is the current Republican number two in the US House of Representatives and, according to the US media, won the internal party vote with 113 votes to 99. 111 votes were necessary. The nomination does not automatically mean that Scalise will have the necessary majority in the official election in the House of Representatives.
However, the parliamentary chamber formally met briefly on Wednesday and adjourned the session. A new date was not given. According to the media, it is unlikely that MPs will vote on the top job on Wednesday.
The previous leader, Kevin McCarthy, was voted out as leader of the House of Representatives in a historic vote last week. In order to be elected to the third most important office in the state after president and vice president, an absolute majority is required among the members of the House of Representatives present. The Republicans only have a very slim majority in the chamber, so a handful of dissenters are enough to block a candidacy. It currently takes 217 votes in the parliamentary chamber to be elected to the chief post.
Scalise, 58, from Louisiana, leads the Republican caucus in the chamber. He is currently being treated for blood cancer. Nevertheless, he was the second person after the radical Republican Jim Jordan, who announced after McCarthy’s deselection that he would enter the race for the presidency. Scalise made headlines in 2002 with a speech to a white supremacist group, for which he later apologized. He has a clear profile as an opponent of abortions. However, some hardliners in the party still see him as too much part of the Washington establishment.