NASHVILLE — Republican Congressmen Chuck Fleischmann and Scott DesJarlais of Southeast Tennessee said they will back Steve Scalise to become the next U.S. House speaker in an upcoming floor vote.
Scalise, of Louisiana, on Wednesday eked out a slender majority Wednesday among chamber Republicans. He bested House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, of Ohio. Scalise received 113 votes to Jordan’s 99.
But U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Northwest Georgia, said she continues to support Jordan. The Rome Republican added she likes Scalise.
“I want to see him defeat cancer more than sacrifice his health in the most difficult position in Congress,” she said.
Scalise has said the form of blood cancer he has is treatable and doesn’t pose a barrier to his assuming the post if Republicans stick together in the narrowly divided chamber. Jordan has offered to nominate Scalise on the House floor.
But a vote was delayed, signaling that would-be Speaker Scalise still has work to do to win over some hard-right opponents. He needs 217 votes or close to it, if there are absences, to wield the gavel.
U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, the Knoxville Republican who was among eight GOP lawmakers who joined with 208 Democrats last week to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-California, as speaker in a no-confidence vote, on Wednesday congratulated Scalise on his victory in the GOP conference, calling him a good friend.
“I hope my colleagues will rally around Steve so we can get back to governing and advancing a conservative agenda,” Burchett said. “It’s time for us to take this to the House floor and quickly start serving our constituents.”
READ MORE: Burchett claims that McCarthy mocked him for praying over move to oust the speaker
House Republicans have been unable to conduct business without a speaker. Given crises ranging from the attack by the terrorist group Hamas on Israel, the coming expiration of a short-term funding bill for the federal government and other pressing issues, the pot is boiling with the lower chamber out of commission.
“I urge all my colleagues to come together to support Steve on the House Floor,” Fleischmann stated in his social media post. “We have important work to do for the American People.”
Fleischmann and Scalise are longtime friends. They were among representatives playing in a 2017 practice session for the annual Congressional Baseball Game in Alexandria, Virginia, when a gunman opened fire, shooting six people. Among the wounded was Scalise. Fleischmann was not injured.
READ MORE: Tennessee US Rep. Fleischmann backs Majority Leader Scalise for House speaker
Scalise is currently serving as House majority leader.
DesJarlais said in a statement that he backed Jordan for speaker during Wednesday’s GOP conference meeting.
“However,” added DesJarlais, who is a member of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, “Rep. Steve Scalise won and has been an excellent leader for our party. We have incredibly important work to do to pass our appropriations bills before the 45-day deadline, dealing with the crisis in Israel to ensure our own national security, and securing our southern border so that more terrorists are not crossing into the U.S.”
U.S. Rep. John Rose, a Cookeville Republican, said he, too, had voted for Jordan, stating in a release he “felt truly inspired” by Jordan’s vision and strategy for leading the House in a “new direction.”
“Now, I believe it is a time for Republicans to come together to support Speaker Designate Scalise and elect him as the 56th speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives,” Rose said. “I look forward to casting my vote for a fellow Southerner on the House floor and working with the newly elected speaker to continue the House’s efforts to secure legislative victories for the American people.”
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-285-9480.