Steve Scalise Withdraws Name from Race for House Speaker, Leaving Republican Party Without Clear Frontrunner

In a surprise move on Thursday night, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., announced that he is withdrawing his name from the race for the vacant House speaker role. Scalise had been nominated for the position by the Republican conference the day before.

In a closed-door meeting with Republicans, Scalise said he was withdrawing his name as a candidate for the speaker designee. He then spoke to reporters outside the room, saying, “This House of Representatives needs a speaker and we need to open up the House again.”

Scalise went on to say that “there are still some people that have their own agendas” and that “this country is counting on us to come back together.” He added that “clearly, not everybody is there and they’re still schisms that have to get resolved.”

The House speaker position has been vacant since California Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted in a historic vote last week. Scalise’s withdrawal from the race leaves the Republican party without a clear frontrunner for the role.

The Republican party is now tasked with finding a new candidate to fill the speaker role. The party is expected to hold another vote in the coming days in order to select a new speaker. In the meantime, the House remains closed until a new speaker is chosen.