[UPDATE] House Speaker Race: Steve Scalise Receives GOP Nomination

The House GOP has chosen Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise to be their House Speaker nominee after the ousting of Kevin McCarthy, but how likely is he to win a vote?

Scalise currently serves as House majority leader and lacks the 217 votes needed to be elected as the House speaker in a floor vote. Additionally, several Republican lawmakers have not committed to supporting the individual, which signals the potential for a drawn-out fight for the gavel.

Steve Scalise Wins House Speaker Nomination

Until lawmakers select a new House speaker, it will remain paralyzed after McCarthy was removed from the position in a controversial vote. This unprecedented situation has taken on new urgency amid Israel's ongoing war against Hamas militants.

What further raises the stakes is that the longer Republicans take to elect a new speaker, the less time they have to try to avert a government shutdown with a funding deadline looming in mid-November.

Scalise got the nomination by edging out Rep. Jim Jordan in a closed-door vote by the House GOP conference in selecting their speaker nominee on Wednesday. It was a blow to former United States President Donald Trump, who endorsed Jordan, who currently holds the position of chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, as per CNN.

Now, the question that remains is whether or not Scalise will be able to win support from the Republican holdouts, which is a major obstacle in his path to the gavel. House Republicans have a narrow majority; he can only afford to lose four GOP votes on the floor and still win the speakership.

The removal of McCarthy as House speaker, which resulted from efforts by a group of hardline conservatives, intensified deep tensions within the House GOP conference. It also raised tensions and threatened to make it even more difficult for Republican lawmakers to unite behind a new speaker.

Following the nomination of Scalise on Wednesday, several Republicans said they would not commit to voting for him for speaker. The swift announcement clarified that the GOP fight over the position will not be resolved quickly.

Getting Enough Support

The policy director for the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, called for a delay to the vote on a House speaker. He posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, showing his opposition to Scalise's nomination. He added that the development was "unacceptable & purposeful," according to the New York Times.

After his nomination, Scalise said that it was crucial for the House to quickly reconstitute itself so that it would be able to confront the challenges at home and abroad. He said they need to ensure that they send a message to people worldwide that the House is open and doing the people's business.

Rep. Nancy Mace is among the few Republican holdouts against Scalise's efforts to become the House speaker. She said that her decision was set in stone because the House majority leader previously spoke at a gathering that was hosted by white supremacist leaders, an event that took place more than two decades ago at a time when he was a state representative, said the Washington Post.