Republicans nominate racist klansman over nazi child molester for house speaker.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4250062-steve-scalise-wins-gop-speaker-nomination/House Republicans settled on Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the current majority leader, as their pick to replace deposed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Scalise beat out Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in a vote that signals continuity with the current House GOP leadership team instead of the rightward move that would have likely followed a Jordan victory.
While the selection means Scalise will probably become the next speaker, it remains to be seen whether Republicans will stick together to ensure his victory in a formal House vote.
With a narrow majority over Democrats in the House, Republicans would need 217 of their 221 members to vote for the GOP candidate to ensure his win. McCarthy was ousted in a historic first when eight disgruntled Republicans voted with Democrats last week to remove him as speaker.
The fallout from that vote has been bitter infighting that led to a delay in the House GOP’s selection of a nominee.
Scalise was elected to Congress in 2008 after serving in the Louisiana legislature. He quietly but steadily worked his way up in the party leadership, becoming the third-ranking House Republican as whip in 2013 and then moving up to the second-in-command majority leader after Republicans won back the House in the 2022 elections.
He was one of a handful of House Republicans shot in 2017 during a practice for the annual congressional baseball charity game. While he recovered, the incident left him using a cane.
In August, Scalise disclosed he has multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood. While he said in late September that his chemotherapy has meant “the cancer has dropped dramatically,” the diagnosis and concerns for his well-being were among the issues surrounding his candidacy for the speakership.
