A pro-Trump Republican lawmaker could become the next Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the position on Tuesday, October 3rd. According to Fox News, 57-year-old Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise has been making calls to shore up support ahead of a possible vote next week to select the next speaker.
Steve Scalise is known as an advocate for low taxes, strong defence, and conservative values. He is a climate change sceptic, a supporter of gun rights, a strong opponent of abortion, same-sex marriage, and LGBT rights. He is one of the Republicans who have not contradicted former President Donald Trump for saying that the 2020 presidential elections were stolen. Scalise made headlines six years ago when he was shot at and severely injured by a left-wing terrorist, a fierce critic of Trump. Scalise has been the Republican Majority Leader in the House since January of this year and is well positioned to succeed Kevin McCarthy.
McCarthy was ousted as Speaker of the House after eight Republican lawmakers sided with the Democrats to vote against him. The 216-to-210 vote marked the first time in history that the House removed its leader. Tuesday’s rebellion was led by Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida who accused the speaker of making a secret deal with the White House to continue funding Ukraine in its war against Russia amid negotiations to avert a partial government shutdown at the weekend.
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McCarthy defended the bill, which was approved by most Republicans (90 opposed) and almost all Democrats on Saturday. If no deal was in place before Sunday, federal workers would have faced forced leave from work, more than two million members of the military would have had to work without pay, and programs and services that Americans rely on would have begun to face shutdown disruptions. The bill funds the government until November 17th, after which a new deal will have to be struck.
Before Tuesday’s vote, McCarthy told reporters:
Keeping government open, and paying our troops was the right decision. I stand by that decision. At the end of the day, if I have to lose my job over it, so be it.
McCarthy said Gaetz had been carrying out a personal vendetta stemming from a congressional ethics investigation into allegations that the Florida congressman had engaged in sex trafficking. The Department of Justice ended its own investigation into Gaetz earlier this year without charging him.
On Steve Scalise potentially becoming the next Speaker, Gaetz told reporters that Scalise would be “a phenomenal speaker.”
House Republicans have been split since they gained a majority after last November’s midterm elections. The right wing of the party has been advocating for spending cuts, less military aid for Ukraine, and the impeachment of President Joe Biden. The split in the party was already evident early this year when McCarthy was only elected Speaker after the fifteenth round of voting, having to make concessions to the aforementioned right-wing.
The House looks set to go leaderless for at least a week, as multiple Republicans said they planned to meet next Monday to discuss possible McCarthy successors, with a vote on a new speaker planned for Tuesday. The House cannot carry out legislative business until a speaker is elected.
Donald Trump—who is running for President in next year’s Republican primaries—commented on his social media page, Truth Social:
Why is it that Republicans are always fighting among themselves, why aren’t they fighting the Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our Country?
