Republicans have not announced a plan to resolve the crisis.
Washington:
The Republican nominee to lead the U.S. House of Representatives quit Thursday after failing to find enough support to win a vote in the full House, pushing Congress’ paralyzed lower chamber deeper into crisis.
Steve Scalise narrowly won a secret internal Republican vote on Wednesday to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, but it quickly became clear he could not get the 217 lawmakers needed for a vote in the full House, while his opponents in his own party lined up to announce they would not support him.
“It has been quite a journey, and there is still a long way to go. I just shared with my colleagues that I am withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker designate,” Scalise said.
The announcement ended the party’s hopes for a moment of unity, extending a leadership vacuum that has prevented Congress from carrying out even its most basic functions for nine days since McCarthy’s unprecedented removal in a mutiny by right-wing lawmakers.
No vote on the speaker has been scheduled, but if every Democrat and Republican were present and voting, each candidate would need 217 votes to prevail — a tall order in a party riven by factional infighting.
A second public battle for the speakership — nine months after McCarthy’s marathon, 15-round battle to win the gavel — could hardly have come at a worse time for the Republican-controlled House of Congress.
The leaderless House has failed to pass bills or approve White House requests for emergency aid, while Israel – the US’s main ally in the Middle East – is at war with Hamas militants.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are facing a looming government shutdown as they have just a month to agree on 2024 federal spending levels before the money runs out, and they have made no progress during the leadership crisis.
Scalise had worked frantically to gain more support as Republicans gathered around noon, though the discussion seemed to generate more skeptics than new support.
“There is no consensus candidate for speaker. We need to stay in Washington until we get this sorted out,” Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, who had endorsed Scalise, said in a social media post after the meeting.
“I’m no longer voting for Scalise. I don’t even think we’ll make it to the floor.”
Rejected by Trump
A succession of Republicans announced they had no plans to support Scalise, and some strategists believed his own party’s opposition might have numbered as many as thirty lawmakers.
“This country is counting on us coming together again. This House of Representatives needs a speaker and we need to open the House back up,” Scalise said.
“But it’s clear that not everyone is there. And there are still schisms that need to be resolved.”
The Republican, who has been climbing the leadership ranks for a decade, said he loved the job of majority leader and was “incredibly blessed.”
Opponents had expressed anger at how he helped block proposed reforms to the nomination process. Others were concerned that he would not be able to unite the party, and there were concerns that the treatment he is receiving for blood cancer would make him too weak for the job.
Republicans have not announced a plan to resolve the crisis, but they could fall back on hardliner Jim Jordan, who lost to Scalise in internal elections, or try to invest full speakership for a limited period in the legislature currently in office. serves as a parliamentarian. concierge.
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has called for a “bipartisan governing coalition” in the House of Representatives, though Republicans have given no sign they would ever consider it.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
