Scalise, a Republican, wanted to become Speaker of the US House of Representatives, but is now withdrawing. The reason: If he had voted, he would not have received the necessary majority. The chaos in Congress continues.
Republican nominee Steve Scalise for the presidency of the US House of Representatives has withdrawn his candidacy. He said this in the US Congress after failing to secure sufficient support within his own caucus.
Although the latter had previously nominated him for the influential post, he would probably have been denied a majority in the Congressional Chamber due to several dissidents in the Republican ranks.
“There are still some people who have their own agenda,” Scalise said after a meeting of his caucus. There are differences of opinion that need to be resolved. And he warned: “This House of Representatives needs a chairman.”
Narrowly defeated Trump candidate
The chairman of the House of Representatives comes third in the state ranking after the president and his vice president. Scalise was chosen as the candidate by his group behind closed doors on Wednesday – but the vote was extremely close. The ultra-conservative politician prevailed with 113 votes to 99 against his party rival Jim Jordan, who is considered a loyalist of former US President Donald Trump.
The previous leader, Kevin McCarthy, was voted out as leader of the House of Representatives in a historic vote last week. Radical Republicans had driven him out of office. It was the first time in US history that a chairman of the House of Representatives lost his job in this way. The drama largely brought the US Parliament to a standstill.
Republicans only have a slim majority
The US Republicans only have a thin majority in the House of Representatives, so Republican dissidents have powerful leverage in their hands when it comes to voting – even if there are only a few of them. The party currently has 221 MPs in the Chamber of Parliament. 217 votes are needed to be elected chairman. So Scalise could only have had four dissidents in his group.
He could not have counted on votes from US President Joe Biden’s Democrats. After his election as nominee, around a dozen Republicans announced that they would withhold their vote from Scalise in a vote for the presidency.