Scalise Withdraws Speaker Bid, House Braces For Protracted Paralysis

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) yesterday withdrew his candidacy for speaker of the House of Representatives after a short campaign which failed to garner sufficient support.

• House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) now becomes the presumptive frontrunner but his historical position as a leader of the anti-establishment conservative wing of the GOP increases the prospect of a extended period of paralysis in the House and the likelihood of a government shutdown on November 17. If paralysis continues Republican leadership may look to test the constitutional powers of interim speaker Patrick McHenry's (R-NC) and advance a stopgap government funding bill without a permanent speaker in place.
• Scalise said: “It wasn’t going to happen today. It wasn’t going to happen tomorrow. I withdraw my name.”
• Jordan, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, received 99 votes in the internal GOP conference vote earlier this week - far short of the 217 required to win a rollcall on the floor.
• House Republicans will meet again today to discuss the next steps. It is likely a 'unity' candidate will be floated, with Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-OK), and McHenry potential options.
• Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) mounting a comeback or the unlikely option of moderate Republicans voting with Democrats now become slightly more likely, especially considering the pressure to legislate a FY24 budget and provide Congressional support to Israel and Ukraine.