Greene, Boebert among pro-Jordan holdouts despite Scalise nomination
Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) are among the at least half dozen Republicans who have committed to not voting for Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) in Speaker of the House votes this week, despite a secret ballot process which saw the Majority Leader nominated as the caucus’ choice.
The pair committed their votes instead to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Scalise’s opponent in the caucus vote.
“I just voted for Jim Jordan for Speaker on a private ballot in conference, and I will be voting for Jim Jordan on the House floor,” Greene said on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday. “I like Steve Scalise, and I like him so much that I want to see him defeat cancer more than sacrifice his health in the most difficult position in Congress.”
Scalise announced that he has a form of blood cancer in late August and is undergoing treatment. He described the cancer as “very treatable” and has continued to work.
“I lost my father to cancer and it’s a very serious battle,” Greene continued. “We need a Speaker who is able to put their full efforts into defeating the communist democrats and save America.”
Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Michael Cloud (R-Texas) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) have also announced that they will not back Scalise.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) initially came out against Scalise, but said she will now back him after a personal meeting late Wednesday.
The secret ballot voting process held earlier Wednesday resulted in Scalise — viewed as a successor to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — winning the caucus nomination over Jordan with a vote of 113-99.
Scalise needs to secure 217 votes on the House floor to be elected Speaker. Democrats are all expected to support Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) for the job, so Scalise can only afford to lose four votes from Republicans — assuming all members vote.
In his statement coming out against Scalise, Cloud criticized caucus leadership for pushing forward on a Speaker vote so soon after a divided closed-doors nominations process.
“Going to the floor on a nomination with barely half the conference’s support is a bad, bad idea — especially without a specific plan on how to address the spending deadline,” Cloud said on X. “While I respect Steve Scalise, the underhanded efforts to rush this vote to the floor without getting full buy-in from the conference is extremely ill-advised and I will not be supporting the nomination on the floor, absent a further discussion.”
Boebert echoed the sentiment, saying “the Swamp and K Street lobbyists prevented” Republicans from unifying behind a single candidate by moving so quickly.
“The American people deserve a real change in leadership, not a continuation of the status quo,” she said.
Massie criticized Scalise for not proposing a “viable” plan to fund the government by the Nov. 14 deadline. Congress passed a last-second, 45-day continuing resolution to fund the government on Sept. 30.
“Surprises are for little kids at birthday parties, not Congress,” Massie said on X. “So, I let Scalise know in person that he doesn’t have my vote on the floor, because he has not articulated a viable plan for avoiding an omnibus.”
Jordan will vote for Scalise and has backed the Majority Leader in lobbying his colleagues for votes, a source with direct knowledge told The Hill.
Separately, Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.) told reporters Wednesday he still plans to vote for McCarthy for the Speakership on the House floor — despite McCarthy telling colleagues on Tuesday not to nominate him for the role.
The Speaker vote is not expected late Wednesday.
Updated 6:16 p.m.