Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA) apparently does not have the votes to become the next Speaker of the House, as at least 20 House Republicans, on Thursday, stated they intend to vote for Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) for Speaker instead. Scalise will most likely step aside as the nominee for Speaker by the Republicans and Jordan is likely to step back into the race per reports. 

🚨 #BREAKING: Steve Scalise will NOT be able to secure the 217 votes necessary to become Speaker, and is expected to WITHDRAW from the race today@RepThomasMassie (R-KY) says at least 20 Republicans will not be voting for Scalise

Jim Jordan is expected to jump back into the… pic.twitter.com/f9lBYaWFoZ

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 12, 2023

Scalise was nominated yesterday for the speakership in a 113 to 99 victory in the Republican caucus. The voting tally, however, signaled uncertainty in the Republican ranks with the number of holdouts being so high. 

...it appears Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) will be the new GOP nominee for Speaker of the House by a count of 113 to 99. The news comes one week after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted due to an effort led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and a group of eight Republicans and Democrats in the lower chamber.

Scalise faced competition from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who is favored by members of the conservative base. The vote totals were close, but Scalise managed to eke out the victory:

Rep. Steve Scalise came out on top as House Republicans met Wednesday to pick their nominee for Speaker.

The conference was closely divided between the House majority leader from Louisiana and and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Indeed the final vote was close — a win by 14 votes.

The vote came after Republicans killed a proposal to change the nominating process that was intended to avoid a messy floor fight.

House Republicans voted in a closed-door meeting. They were not allowed to have their cell phones with them. Jordan and Scalise made their case to their colleagues, and both picked up endorsement

This development comes before an anticipated vote by the entire House of Representatives to elect the new Speaker today and could delay things yet again, as Republicans figure out a path forward. Fears of an extended Speaker vote as we saw back in January when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was elected after almost a week, after 15 separate voting rounds. 

As it stands right now, House Republicans are supposed to be meeting behind closed doors at present to discuss a path forward with a nominee for Speaker. When these details become available, we will bring you that information.