Just yesterday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise was asked about his ability to fulfill the role of Speaker in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I’ve got a long history of bringing people together, uniting Republicans, focusing on the issues that we’ve got to do to address the issues we came here to do to get our country back on track,” he told FOX Business.
One day later, it appears that many of his colleagues feel the same way. In a closed-door vote, Scalise secured the Republican Party’s nomination for Speaker of the House by a vote of 113-99.
“I want to thank my House Republican colleagues for just designating me as the Speaker,” he said.
“Obviously we still have work to do. We’re going to have to go upstairs on the House Floor and resolve this, and get the House opened again. We have a lot of work to do — not just in the House for the people of this country — but we see how dangerous of a world it is, and how things can change so quickly.”
Scalise’s nomination does not automatically guarantee his spot as Speaker of the House. Several Republican legislators remain in support of Rep. Jim Jordan becoming the next Speaker of the House.
“I’m still throwing my support behind Jim Jordan for House speaker,” Rep. Max Miller said on Wednesday.
“I am not going to change my vote now or anytime soon on the House floor.”
Miller, Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene and several other Republicans have publicly expressed their unwavering support for Jordan. Still, Rep. Juan Ciscomani is hopeful the party will emerge united when the full U.S. House of Representatives comes together to vote on the matter in the near future.
“The message was, let’s make sure we’re united before we go to the floor,” he said.
“And now we have work to do to make sure that the people that didn’t vote for Steve Scalise do so on the floor.”
