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In GOP Speaker candidate forum, neither Scalise or Jordan would admit Trump lost in 2020 [1]

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Date: 2023-10-11

Scalise wins secret ballot, but his path to actually winning the Speaker vote on the floor remains unclear.

Left Luggage now is found. I don’t want Scalise to be speaker, but if he wins, the Trump-endorsed candidate loses. Again. Bootstraps everywhere.

The House GOP rejected a push on Wednesday to increase the number of votes required to select a speaker nominee. Why it matters: Proponents of the change argued it would help the conference avoid another 15 rounds of speaker votes on the House floor like in January — but other Republicans said it would create more chaos and could lead to a lengthy gridlock behind closed doors. Conservative Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and moderate Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) crafted the proposal, which would have temporarily raised the threshold to 217 votes instead of a simple majority before bringing a nominee to the floor. The intrigue: Speaker candidates House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) were at odds over whether the rule change should take place. Jordan backed the amendment, as former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Scalise allies pushed against it, making the case it would create more chaos.

Neither candidate currently has the 217 votes needed to secure the gavel on the floor, with lawmakers casting doubt on their ability to select a new speaker by the end of the week. www.axios.com/… Development making it easier to nominate a GOP speaker candidate today. Vote threshold will be 111 votes to win GOP nomination. Jordan has said he wanted to make sure he has 217 votes before going to floor. Scalise hasn’t said that. Votes will happen shortly Just now inside the room: The motion was tabled, per multiple sources familiar, which means the proposed change to the GOP nominating process failed. They are now on nominating speeches. The tally was 135-88 on the motion to table, per source. x Breaking: Development making it easier to nominate a GOP speaker candidate today. Vote threshold will be 111 votes to win GOP nomination. Jordan has said he wanted to make sure he has 217 votes before going to floor. Scalise hasn’t said that. Votes will happen shortly



Just now… — Danny C (@DannyC1111_DC) October 11, 2023

x Newsy Nugget: In the candidate forum, Rep. Ken Buck asked both Scalise and Jordan if Trump won or lost the last election, per sources.



Multiple House Rs felt both equivocated. One said both “tried to have it both ways.” They argued how some states changed their laws bc covid… — Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 11, 2023 and some GOP members thought they insinuated Trump lost bc of how states had changed their election practices. I’m told Rep. French Hill then stood & tried to follow up and push for a direct answer but wasn’t successful. One said centrist looked quite displeased by it all. Told the specific question Buck asked: “Can you unequivocally and publicly state the election was not stolen. ”Neither him nor Hill got a direct answer

After Ken Buck's question, which was confirmed by multiple people with knowledge of the meeting, some Republicans interpreted Scalise and Jordan's answers as equivocating on the validity of Trump's loss to President Joe Biden. One Republican who was granted anonymity to discuss the exchange said that both speaker hopefuls "tried to have it both ways." Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) then tried to follow up on the question but also didn't get a direct answer from either Scalise or Jordan, both of whom voted against fully certifying Biden's 2020 victory. It's a moment that reflects Trump's lingering influence on the GOP, as well as the difficulties that either Scalise or Jordan may have in winning over centrist Republicans such as the 18 who currently hold seats where Biden prevailed in 2020. Aides to the former president — including his attorney general, Bill Barr — have affirmed that Biden was the fair winner in 2020, countering Trump's false claims that voter fraud cost him the election. The subsequent investigation by the Jan. 6 select committee uncovered further records of Trump advisers who had warned him against amplifying claims that his election loss was somehow fraudulent. Buck, who initially posed the question, is one of only two members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who voted to fully certify Biden's victory. More than 130 House Republicans supported at least one objection to certification after the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021. www.politico.com/... x “House GOP speaker hopefuls equivocate on Trump's 2020 loss.”@politico

How can we have sane government when one party cannot accept the plain fact that President Biden won the 2020 election? https://t.co/ecdRfT1sLy — EJ Dionne (@EJDionne) October 11, 2023 x Get this: republicans can’t expel an indicted felon because they ousted their Speaker, and no one has enough votes to win except maybe the guy who failed to report sexual assault that was endorsed by a different rapist with 91 felony counts. — Mueller, She Wrote 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@MuellerSheWrote) October 11, 2023 (2015) David Duke also described Scalise as traveling, "pushing his tax program and coming to constituents." Duke then doubled down on his threats to expose any politician's association with him if they attacked Scalise for visiting his group, a threat that may have kept some Republicans from calling for Scalise to be removed from office or to face censure. www.meidastouch.com/...

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