At a conference meeting on Thursday night, Steve Scalise, the Louisiana Republican who holds the position of House majority leader, declared he was giving up on his quest to become speaker.
Following a full day of protracted negotiations with fellow Republicans that many deemed fruitless, the announcement was made.
“I just shared with my colleagues that I’m withdrawing my name as a candidate for the speaker designee,” the Louisiana Republican told reporters.
“If you look at where our conference is there’s still work to be done. Our conference still has to come together and is not there,” he said. “There are still some people that have their own agendas and I was very clear we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs. This country is counting on us to come back together. This House of Representatives needs a speaker and we need to open up the House again, but clearly not everybody is there and there’s still schisms that have to get resolved.”
Scalise barely defeated Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in a conference vote on Wednesday to become speaker-designate.
But Scalise had not yet secured the 217 votes he would need in a floor vote to take the gavel.
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