MTG, Boebert, Mace, and the Republicans who could stop Scalise getting the gavel

Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) was selected as the Republican conference’s House speaker nominee Wednesday when he won a closed-door vote among members, 113 to Rep. Jim Jordan‘s (R-OH) 99. However, the road to the necessary 217 votes among the Republicans’ slim majority could be difficult if former Speaker Kevin McCarthy‘s 15-ballot series in January is any indication.

There are several members who have already expressed their opposition to voting for Scalise when the speaker vote heads to the House floor. Reps. Bob Good (R-VA) and Nancy Mace (R-SC), who were part of the eight members who voted to oust McCarthy earlier this month, said they won’t be voting in Scalise’s favor.

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Additionally, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Max Miller (R-OH), Chip Roy (R-TX), Barry Moore (R-AL), Michael Cloud (R-TX), Troy Nehls (R-TX), Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) George Santos (R-NY), and Lauren Boebert (R-CO) have said they will not be voting for Scalise.

As for conservative firebrand Greene’s reasoning for going against Scalise, she said Wednesday, “I like Steve Scalise, and I like him so much that I want to see him defeat cancer more than sacrifice his health in the most difficult position in Congress.”

“I lost my father to cancer, and it’s a very serious battle,” she continued, drawing attention to his public health issues.

Scalise announced in August that he had been diagnosed with a blood cancer called multiple myeloma and that he was undergoing treatment. He noted that the cancer was “very treatable” and also claimed it was detected early. He returned to the Capitol two weeks after the announcement. In 2017, Scalise was shot during an attack on Republicans practicing for the congressional baseball game. At the time, his injuries were characterized as extensive, and he suffered broken bones, internal organ damage, and major internal bleeding. He still deals with the effects of his injuries, often walking with a cane.

Mace’s justification for her non-support is different. She said she can’t support the majority leader for his association with white supremacists.

“I personally cannot, in good conscience, vote for someone who attended a white supremacist conference and compared himself to David Duke,” she said on CNN. “I would be doing an enormous disservice to the voters that I represent in South Carolina if I were to do that.”

She was referring to a 2002 conference at which Scalise spoke, which had been hosted by white supremacists. The organization that held the event had been founded by David Duke, once the leader of the Klu Klux Klan. Years later, when he was questioned about it, Scalise said he did not know of the group’s links.

“For anyone to suggest that I was involved with a group like that is insulting and ludicrous,” he said in 2014. In a later statement, he called his speaking at the event a “mistake I regret.”

Boebert’s opposition was less specific, as she took issue with Scalise’s “establishment” Republican association.

“We had a chance to unify the party behind closed doors, but the Swamp and K Street lobbyists prevented that,” she said of Jordan’s loss in the conference election. “The American people deserve a real change in leadership, not a continuation of the status quo.”

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While the speakership appears to be an uphill battle for Scalise, the task has shown some promise. Some of the eight Republicans who sided with House Democrats to oust McCarthy have already committed to supporting Scalise. And, with his experience as a whip and majority leader, Scalise has the potential to work on gaining the support of those still holding out.

The House did not vote on a speaker Wednesday, but Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-NC) said he hopes to have a vote Thursday.