Republicans emerged from the House conference meeting on Thursday afternoon in complete disarray.
While the GOP has been fighting for the better part of the year, after removing Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as speaker, the caucus is so split on who the next one should be that no one can reach the 217 votes necessary to reach the position. Democrats have 212 votes for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who continues to have the most votes of any member in the House.
Before the meeting was even over, Rep. George Santos (R-NY), who is facing a 23-count indictment, abandoned the ship calling it a "waste of time."
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“Yeah, it’s never Scalise,” Santos told CNN's Manu Raju. “At this point we’re going to find someone else in leadership that comes forward that’s going to be a compromise candidate. But as for me it’s never Scalise.”
An hour later, it turned out he was right. Scalise didn't have the votes, and he was losing support.
Republicans in the room told Punchbowl News that Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) repeatedly refused to answer questions from at least three colleagues about his "plan."
He “just rambled and didn’t directly answer questions. No plan. Didn’t unify or inspire the conference," one member told John Bresnahan.
After the meeting, however, Scalise told Punchbowl's Jake Sherman he'll meet with some of the "no" votes personally.
Rep. Dan Bishop told a far-right activist that Jim Jordan is the only Republican who could reach the 217 votes necessary, The Messenger's Stephen Neukam posted on the social media site formerly known as Twitter.
Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), who is supporting Scalise, told Sherman that there are six "hard nos" against Scalise, which means without those he'll never reach the votes necessary. "Based on what I've heard, I don't [think] there's gonna be a vote this week."
Foreign Affairs Chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) told Sherman, “I see a lot of threats out there. One of the biggest threats I see is in that room."
“They’re airing these grievances but at the end of the day, we elected the speaker designee and you know, we may just have to bring it to the floor and have another episode like we had with McCarthy. I don’t really know if he’s going to get the requisite votes right now," he continued.
Meanwhile, Republicans are demanding the United States step up funding to Israel to fight back against Hamas, which orchestrated a terrorist attack over the weekend.
CBS News' Robert Costa asked Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), whose name has been thrown around as someone who could get to 217, if he’s willing to serve as a kind of consensus speaker who works with both parties. Cole has long been a Republican conservative.
“Oh please,” he laughed. When Costa asked for some clarity on where he stands, Cole laughed again. “I’m not running for speaker.”
The idea of a consensus speaker is becoming more and more of a possibility with the so-called "Problem Solver's Caucus" having 10 Republicans in its ranks that could form a joint government with Democrats.
Rep. David Joyce (R-OH), who is a member of the "Problem Solver's Caucus," told Sherman that he's speaking with Republicans and Democrats about a possible joint government with interim Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-NC).
It's unclear if that's even an option, as McHenry is seen as a McCarthy loyalist who booted Speaker emeritus Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) out of their offices with just 24 hours-notice. It was later reported that McCarthy was the one demanding it because Democrats wouldn't vote to keep him in as the speaker.
Pelosi wasn't in attendance for the vote. She was in California, attending the funeral of her longtime friend, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).
