House to adjourn for ninth day without speaker as party infighting continues

Republicans emerged from hours of meetings without a consensus on who to elect as their next House speaker, leaving lawmakers without a clear path forward as they prepare to adjourn for a ninth day with the key position unfilled.

After briefly gaveling into session on Thursday morning before immediately going into recess, GOP lawmakers met for 2 1/2 hours behind closed doors as Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) sought to shore up support among some of the holdout members of his party who say they will not back him for speaker. However, it doesn’t appear much movement has been made as more than a dozen Republicans have come out in opposition to a Scalise speakership, putting him far below the 217 votes needed to win the position.

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However, House leaders sent a notice to members shortly after 7 p.m. that votes are no longer expected, moving the House into yet another day without a speaker. It’s possible the House could reconvene sometime Friday afternoon, but it remains unclear.

House Republicans are poised to meet for another closed-door meeting at 7:30 p.m. to continue to try and quash the opposition to Scalise and discuss a path forward.

“I think it’s fairly obvious to everyone that Scalise does not have the votes,” said Rep. Keith Self (R-TX).

Alex Brandon/AP

Scalise was nominated as the GOP speaker candidate after a closed-door meeting on Tuesday afternoon, emerging victorious in a 113-99 vote over Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH). Despite his win, several GOP lawmakers have come out in opposition to a Scalise speakership, vowing not to support the Louisiana Republican when the matter comes to the full floor for a vote.

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX), who supports Scalise, said the majority leader is not thinking about dropping out and that he is “rock solid” in his stance about staying the nominee and trying to become the speaker.

The majority leader met with several GOP lawmakers throughout the day on Thursday in an effort to firm up more support among the conference, with Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) telling reporters progress has been made in support for Scalise.

“There are a lot of folks who have voted for Jordan … who are now on the side of the one who won the election,” he said. “It’s an issue of addition. And so far, we’re still adding, and that’s a good thing.”

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It’s not clear what issues are at the center of holdouts’ concerns, but Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) said Republicans would reconvene in an effort to ease concerns.

“We’re on the clock right now. With speaker designate Steve Scalise, he needs to be given an opportunity to consolidate the votes and become speaker,” Johnson said. “I’m not in a position right now to characterize the concerns of the whole lot other than I would note that there is not a single theme. We’re dealing with a number of different concerns. And I think Steve Scalise needs to be given the opportunity to address them.”