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Liberal Ontario MP Anthony Rota
A tale of two speakers, revisited
Now, Canada’s House of Commons has a new speaker, while the US House of Representatives is struggling to elect one for themselves. Last week, Liberal member of Parliament Greg Fergus was elected speaker by his colleagues in a secret preferential ballot, making him the first Black speaker in the country’s history. His election proceeded far more quickly and smoothly than its American counterpart.
On Wednesday, however, Republicans made some progress toward filling the speaker’s chair. GOP representatives chose Louisiana’s Steve Scalise – who voted to overturn the 2020 election – as their pick over judiciary chair Jim Jordan. But that’s just step one. Now, Scalise must find his way to 217 votes – a path that will take him through ruins with potentially hostile members of his own party, Democrats, or both. Scalise can only afford to lose four Republicans without having to rely on the other side of the aisle. So far, at least a dozen Republicans are opposed to Scalise.
We’re watching to see if Scalise and the Republicans can fill the speaker’s chair while facing down lingering and developing crises, including the war in Ukraine – and the battle in Congress to fund it – and the Israel-Hamas war. We’re also watching to see if Fergus can bring some order and the decorum to the House of Commons. Good luck with that.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., is seen on Capitol Hill as House Republicans have decided to nominate Scalise for Speaker of the House on Oct. 11, 2023 in Washington, D.C.
Will Republican rebels allow Scalise to hit 217?
Another 10 members voted for other candidates. But the House then went into recess because Scalise doesn’t yet have the 217 votes he’ll need to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy. Democrats will all vote for their leader, Hakeem Jeffries, for speaker.
For now, the choice of Scalise as the Republican nominee represents a loss for the more aggressively partisan pro-Donald Trump wing of the House GOP, which had supported Jordan. In fact, Scalise has pretty closely aligned on policy with former speaker McCarthy. He supported the recent bipartisan debt ceiling deal that helped avoid a government shutdown, new financial help for Ukraine, and a clean continuing resolution to keep the government funded, all of which the Republican hardliners who voted to fire McCarthy have opposed.
But to become speaker, Scalise will need virtually all the Jordan voters to come his way on the House floor, and though Jordan has pledged his support, not enough of those who voted for him or others appear willing to back Scalise.
Republicans still hope to elect a speaker in the coming days who can advance legislation that signals US support for Israel and negotiate with Democrats over budget issues ahead of a potential government shutdown on Nov. 17.