Quiet return for Steve Scalise

For embattled Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Tuesday’s return to Washington was a surprisingly quiet one.

The Louisiana Republican, who sparked a firestorm of controversy following recent revelations that he’d addressed a white supremacist group in 2002, was able to avoid the spotlight on the first day of the 114th Congress, with all eyes on Capitol Hill shifted toward a conservative effort to topple Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

{mosads}Democratic leaders also provided Scalise plenty of cover, with some downplaying the issue and others offering support for their colleague.

“There’s bigger issues for us to focus on here,” said Rep. John Larson (Conn.), the former head of the Democratic Caucus. “I take Steve at his word.”

Scalise, for his part, approached his return as if no controversy existed. He took a prominent seat next to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on the chamber floor during the vote for Speaker. And his office issued at least two press statements throughout the day, including one welcoming the members of the 114th Congress to Washington and jabbing President Obama for “ideological attempts to legislate from the Oval Office.”

“With the largest and most dynamic Republican majority since the 1920s, House Republicans will work day and night to pass legislation advancing bold conservative solutions to create jobs, build a healthy economy and hold government accountable,” he vowed.

Across the aisle, several rank-and-file Democrats have called on Scalise to step out of his leadership role based on the 2002 speech, which he’s said was a mistake.

Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-Texas) was the latest to do so, calling Tuesday on Scalise to “do the right thing and decline any leadership nomination.” And Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the civil rights icon, also weighed in on Tuesday, saying Scalise should apologize to members of Congress from both parties.

“I think somehow and in some way, he should come clean and say what he did and apologize to members of Congress, to his colleagues on both the Republican and the Democratic side of the aisle,” Lewis told The Huffington Post.

Still, Boehner and McCarthy have both sided squarely with Scalise. And top Democratic leaders — including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) — have so far tread lightly in their response to the scandal.

“I don’t have as many facts as I would like to have on this in terms of the group … nor am I fully apprised of what Mr. Scalise said to the group,” Hoyer said Tuesday during a press briefing in the Capitol. “And before I find that out I want to reserve judgment.”