WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Congressman Steve Scalise addressed reporters after a two and a half hour closed-door meeting with House Republicans.
Wednesday, the conference nominated the New Orleans area lawmaker as the next speaker of the house.
But the prospect of gathering the votes needed to win the job has slipped into uncertainty.
“Obviously, issues have come up over the last week about the whole process of how we get our conference back on track,” Scalise said. “Then individually people have had questions.”
Scalise said he wanted to meet his republican colleagues as a group rather than individually to let the process play out in full view.
“Where it’s not individually where people don’t think there are side deals going on. Where everybody can see as republicans talking amongst ourselves what those issues are.”
Scalise needs 217 votes.
He can only afford to lose four republicans if all house members vote.
Democrats are expected to vote against Scalise.
Political pollster Ron Faucheux says with a razor thin majority in the house, a small number of republicans have the power to stop almost anything.
“The problem is a number of republicans in the House view Scalise as part of the status quo,” Faucheux said. “They’re looking for big change. They want somebody who hasn’t been part of the leadership before.”
Back in Scalise’s home district, Jefferson Parish Republican Executive Committee Chair Polly Thomas says she is doing what she can to help Scalise become speaker.
“I know that he needs to gather votes from around the country,” Thomas said. “So, what I have done is I have actually texted some family members and friends in other states and asked them to please contact their congressmen and ask them to vote for Steve Scalise.”
Scalise said he’ll deal with the issues in his party before going to the floor for a vote.
“The good news is our support continues to grow. We are working to continue to narrow the gap.”
An expected vote by the full House Wednesday afternoon was postponed.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.