Good evening! Republicans picked their nominee to be the next speaker of the House, but it’s not clear whether he can get the 217 floor votes he’ll need to win the gavel. Here’s where things stand.
Republicans Nominate Scalise for Speaker, but the Fight Isn’t Over Yet
House Republicans took a step toward electing a new speaker on Wednesday as they chose Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana to be their nominee. But it’s not clear that Scalise can convince enough of his fellow Republicans to provide the 217 votes he will need to win the speakership in a full vote on the floor.
The closed-door vote within the GOP conference was close, with the bare minimum of 113 members backing Scalise, while another 99 voted for Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan. The House has gone into recess as Scalise works to build support and tries to avoid the kind of bruising, lengthy fight that ousted speaker Kevin McCarthy endured in January.
Democrats chose Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York as their nominee on Tuesday night, and he is expected to win unanimous support from the Democratic caucus in any floor vote.
Internal battle continues: Multiple Republicans have indicated that they will not support Scalise, who can afford to lose just four votes within his conference given the closely divided House.
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas told reporters he is a “hard no” on Scalise, at least for the moment, because he disagreed with the “rushed” process Republicans had used. House Republicans rejected a temporary rule change Roy had proposed that would have required the speaker nominee to lock down 217 votes before holding a floor vote, thereby preventing the House GOP’s internal conflicts from playing out in public.
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said on social media that Scalise “doesn’t have my vote on the floor, because he has not articulated a viable plan for avoiding an omnibus” — a reference to the all-in-one budget package that Congress often relies on to fund the government and is opposed by many conservatives.
Some Republicans say they plan to vote for McCarthy, who was voted out of the speakership last week. Others say they will vote for Jordan, even though he lost today’s nomination vote and has called on his supporters to back Scalise.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she remained in the Jordan camp.
“I like Steve Scalise, and I like him so much that I want to see him defeat cancer more than sacrifice his health in the most difficult position in Congress,” she wrote, referring to Scalise’s recent diagnosis with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. “We need a Speaker who is able to put their full efforts into defeating the communist democrats and save America,” Greene added.
The Georgia Republican also said that while she backs Jordan over Scalise, she would prefer former president Donald Trump as speaker over either of them.
Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado also said she would vote for Jordan and accused “the Swamp and K Street lobbyists” of working to prevent “a real change in leadership” in the House.
The bottom line: There is no firm date for the speaker vote, which could occur as soon as tomorrow or could face a longer delay. The timing will depend on Scalise, who is still working to win over the members he needs — but, given the entrenched positions of some in his party, may not be able to do so.
8.7 Million People Have Lost Medicaid Coverage: Report
An estimated 8.7 million Medicaid enrollees have lost their coverage under the government healthcare program, according to an update from KFF, a healthcare nonprofit.
The U.S. government froze Medicaid disenrollments while the pandemic was officially a national emergency, and the number of people on Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program rose to more than 94 million in March 2023, a surge of over 22 million compared with February 2020.
States were permitted to begin redetermining Medicaid eligibility and removing people from the program starting this past April.
KFF says that, based on available data, 35% of people who have had their coverage redetermined were disenrolled, while 65% had their coverage renewed. Disenrollment rates vary widely by state, though, ranging from 11% in Illinois to 66% in Texas.
The updated data continue to show that many of those who have been disenrolled have lost their coverage for procedural reasons, such as not filling out paperwork on time. In states with available data, 72% of people who lost coverage did so for procedural reasons.
“High procedural disenrollment rates are concerning because many people who are disenrolled for these paperwork reasons may still be eligible for Medicaid coverage,” KFF says. “Some states have temporarily paused procedural terminations for some enrollees while they address problems in the renewal process that lead to increased procedural disenrollments.”
The group also notes that its report undercounts the actual number of disenrollments to date because of lags in data availability.
Number of the Day: $300 Billion
The U.S. is ramping up its effort to use frozen Russian central bank reserves to benefit Ukraine, The Washington Post reports Wednesday. “The intensifying push to use the assets for Ukraine comes as U.S. and European governments that support Kyiv encounter new domestic political roadblocks for their plans to send taxpayer money to the war effort, although officials insist the matters are unrelated,” the Post says. “The Kremlin has an estimated $300 billion frozen in various bank accounts throughout Western countries, but experts have warned that simply taking that money would face legal challenges and pose major financial risks.”
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Fiscal News Roundup
- Scalise Wins GOP Nomination for Speaker – Roll Call
- Scalise Wins Round 1. What's Next? – Politico
- Republicans Nominate Steve Scalise to Be House Speaker but Struggle to Unite Quickly and Elect Him – Associated Press
- Hern Wants to Replace Scalise as Majority Leader – Roll Call
- Lawmakers Eager for Israel Action Hamstrung by House Speaker Impasse – Roll Call
- Hope Fades That Congress Can Link Ukraine and Israel Aid – Politico
- U.S. Grapples With Political Gridlock as Crises Mount – Wall Street Journal
- White House Blames Trump Tax Cuts for Helping 2023 Deficit Surge – Bloomberg
- U.S. Intensifies Push to Use Moscow’s $300 Billion War Chest for Kyiv – Washington Post
- California Law Signals Ongoing Push for Single-Payer System – Roll Call
Views and Analysis
- How Historic the House GOP’s Chaos Is, By the Numbers – Aaron Blake, Washington Post
- Josh Hawley Is Wrong About Israel and Ukraine – Rich Lowry, Politico
- The Two Candidates for House Speaker Are Even Worse Than Kevin McCarthy – David Firestone, New York Times
- Where the GOP Speaker Candidates Stand on Health Policy – Rachel Roubein, Washington Post
- Is a Recession Coming? – Paul Krugman and Peter Coy, New York Times
- Biden’s Latest Initiatives Against Junk Fees – Robert Kuttner, American Prospect
- After the Covid Culture Wars, Reason to Celebrate – Washington Post Editorial Board
- The Pandemic Changed Us in So Many Ways. Here Are Just a Few – Jen Balderama, Washington Post