Breaking news: Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) has won a majority vote of the Republican caucus to be the next speaker of the House of Representatives. The next step is the vote of the entire House, where he can lose no more than 4 Republican votes and still win.
Republicans who don’t favor him can avoid voting for the Democrats’ choice by voting “present.” Doing so is effectively a “no” vote, best interpreted as “I don’t like either choice.” I believe there is a reasonable chance Scalise will win the speakership, but it isn’t a sure thing.
Scalise is the twice-unlucky fellow who was gutshot at a Congressional baseball practice. The shooter was a Bernie Sanders supporter who was clearly trying to kill Republicans. Scalise currently has a blood cancer diagnosis hanging over him
Update: Scalise won the nomination vote 113 to 99, according to CBS News. Those circumstances lower the probability he will win the actual vote of the whole House membership. There Scalise has to win the votes of 95 of the 99 Republicans who voted for Jim Jordan, of which 45-50 will be easy, the others ... not so much.
This could get ugly ... again.
