This October 11, Republicans proposed Steve Scalise to replace Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House of Representatives. But his election is far from certain: at this point, he does not have enough votes, pointing to a chaotic vote.
First change: 10/12/2023 – 11:02
2 min
With our reporters Cristóbal Vásquez and David Thomson, and the AFP
After more than a week without a president in Congress, the Republicans, who have a majority in the House of Representatives, nominated Steve Scalise, a conservative congressman from Louisiana, as a candidate to replace Kevin McCarthy . They chose him over Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.
Internal opposition
Barely nominated as the majority candidate for that position, after an internal Republican vote held behind closed doors, Steve Scalise faced a rebellion within his own camp. Several influential members of the majority opposed his candidacy and announced that they would not respect the voting instructions.
This is the case of Marjorie Taylor Green, who asked about her health. The iconic representative of Trump from Georgia believes that the cancer treatment received by the 50-year-old candidate is not compatible with the position.
As for Nancy Mace, one of the eight elected representatives who impeached House Speaker McCarthy last week, she also won’t vote for Scalise. He ridiculed him for his ambiguous ties to supremacist circles in his Louisiana kingdom.
PARALYSIS
More than ever, divisions within the Republican party are coming to light, raising fears of a messy vote to find a new president and break the House out of paralysis. To be elected without the Democratic vote, the new speaker would need all the Republican votes.
This is far from the case today. Therefore, many elected representatives have called for the vote to be postponed while negotiations take place behind the scenes in hopes of presenting a more united front in the plenary session in the coming days.
Meanwhile, most of the powers of the House were suspended by the surprise dismissal of Speaker Kevin McCarthy on October 3, a victim of the division between moderates and Trumpists in the Republican Party.
Without a president in Congress, the laws needed to ensure that the aid to Israel and Ukraine that the White House intended to send would not be passed. In addition, the budget will not be approved for the United States government to continue operations after the extension until the second week of November.
