With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team

House Republicans erupted in cheers Wednesday afternoon after the conference successfully nominated Steve Scalise for speaker. But the celebration sure seems to have been premature.

In what has become a running theme for the House GOP, holdouts are withholding support for Scalise in the all-important floor vote, where he’ll need to assemble 217 votes (or close to it, depending on absences) in order to claim the gavel.

“Steve Scalise got 113 votes. That is a majority,” said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas). “But how are you going to convince the other 100 and something to all of a sudden just say, ‘Well, now we’re all going to vote for Steve Scalise?’”

Good question. Right now, the math is ugly for a conference that can only afford to spare four votes without Democratic help, which is certainly not something Scalise can count on.

Among the Republicans raising objections — and threatening to vote for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the second-place finisher, or another alternative:

• Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Bob Good (R-Va.), who each said Scalise is a continuation of the “status quo”;
• Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), who cited a need for new leadership;
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who raised concerns about Scalise’s health;
• Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who said Scalise “has not articulated a viable plan for avoiding an omnibus”;
• Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who said he was unhappy with Scalise’s effort to defeat an internal election rules change;
• Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who raised concerns about Scalise’s 2002 appearance at a meeting of a white supremacist group;
• Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), who said he’s voting for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy until McCarthy explicitly tells him otherwise;
• Plus several other members — including Barry Moore (R-Ala.), Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) and Nehls — who have not outlined specific objections.

State of play: House Republican leadership, or at least whatever parts of it exist right now, appear to want more solid support before going to the floor to avoid a repeat of January’s 15-vote debacle. Acting Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) immediately put the House into recess after gaveling the chamber into order this afternoon.

Now the effort to elect Scalise moves behind closed doors, with shades of the wheeling and dealing that preceded McCarthy’s election. But Scalise and his supporters won’t forget how that turned out, with hard-liners angrily accusing McCarthy of reneging on shadowy, unwritten deals.

But not negotiating is hardly an option, either.

“The people who are part of Team Scalise — I happen to be one of them — will do whatever it takes, whatever is necessary to get to the individuals who were not on Scalise’s ballot, and convince those individuals that we are going to be much better off when we put this issue behind us,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.).

What’s next: Some objections cited by Scalise holdouts are going to be impossible to haggle over, such as Greene’s concern for his health. Scalise is currently battling blood cancer, and there’s nothing he can do in the coming days to change that.

Other criticisms of Scalise, like his past role in leadership, aren’t things he can wash away, either. Miller told reporters while outside the closed-door meeting Wednesday that “trust has been shattered within that room” and that “the only way in my opinion that you can regain that trust is with a whole new set of people.”

Others are being cagier, such as Roy — who brokered the deal that won McCarthy the gavel. “I’m not talking about any concessions,” he told reporters Wednesday afternoon. “I’m trying to figure out the direction of the conference, what it takes for us to be united.”

If anything is pressing the House toward a resolution, it’s pressing legislative business. A war has erupted in Israel. Ukraine is counting on the U.S. for more aid. The next government shutdown deadline is Nov. 17.

As Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) put it to reporters: “We’re in unprecedented times, that’s for sure.”

GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, Oct. 11, where we your Huddle host did not get trampled (too badly) in Longworth.

SENATORS SEEK HELP FOR SYNAGOGUES

As Jewish communities across the globe brace for a rise in anti-Semitic activity after Hamas’ Saturday attack on Israel, a bipartisan group of senators is saying Washington needs to help protect synagogues here in the U.S. as part of the next government funding bill.

Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Chair Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and ranking member Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), as well as Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) are together calling for a boost for FEMA’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which funds physical security enhancements for churches, mosques and synagogues.

“We should include funding for the protection of Jewish institutions and synagogues domestically in the supplemental,” Murphy said in an interview.

Assembling a package: Appropriators have been discussing the makeup of an emergency spending bill ahead of the Senate’s return from recess next week. Most of the public speculation following the attack has focused on security assistance for Israel and whether it might be linked with Ukraine aid.

But lawmakers say they are insistent that threats inside U.S. borders should not go unaddressed. As the Senate “works to ensure Israel has everything it needs to defend itself with overwhelming force,” Britt said in a statement, “we must also vigilantly guard against terrorism and the forces of hate here at home.”

The topic also came up inside a briefing on the Middle East crisis with Biden administration officials Wednesday morning, said Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), a senior House appropriator. Lawmakers asked about Department of Homeland Security activities, she said: “We were told there’s a lot of activity going on there, but that’s another briefing, and it’s really important.”

Iran wrangling: Meanwhile, senators are speaking out about a potential windfall for Hamas’ patrons in the Iranian government. As Burgess reported, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is set to introduce a bill freezing $6 billion in assets set to be unlocked as part of a prisoner swap deal last month. Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) is pursuing a similar bill in the House, per Nat Sec Daily.

The debate about the Iranian assets, which the Biden administration has emphasized is to be used for humanitarian purposes only, is turning into a hot campaign-trail topic. Scott is running for president, and six in-cycle Democratic senators — Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Jacky Rosen (Nevada), Bob Casey (Pa.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.) — have also endorsed freezing those assets this week.

— Joe Gould and Burgess Everett

HOME-STATE COLLEAGUES PUT SCREWS TO SANTOS

New York Republicans are mounting a new push to oust embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) from the House, filing a resolution to expel the accused fraudster a day after federal prosecutors unveiled 10 new criminal counts against him.

“He’s a stain on the institution, and that’s why the New York freshmen have come together. He’s also a stain on our state,” said Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) on the resolution, joined by Reps. Nick LaLota, Nick Langworthy, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams.

Any successful expulsion push would take two-thirds of the chamber, a high threshold for any legislative effort. House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that his party “firmly believes that individual does not meet the standards of someone who should serve under this dome” and would likely join any such effort.

But there’s a blunter reality: House Republicans who are already struggling with a slim governing majority (see above) have little incentive to reduce that margin any further. Santos, who says he won’t take a plea deal, represents a district won by President Joe Biden and any special election could see it flip to Democratic control.

Faced in May with a previous (Democratic) effort to expel Santos, Republicans stuck together in a vote to refer the matter to the (notoriously slow) House Ethics Committee. The panel, which typically defers to law enforcement investigations, has yet to take action against Santos.

Santos decried the effort: He said in a statement that an expulsion would “set a dangerous precedent” and “erase the voices of the electorate.” The last member successfully expelled, by the way? Former Rep. Jim Traficant (D-Ohio) was booted in 2002 after his conviction on ten federal corruption counts.

— Anthony Adragna and Nicholas Wu

HUDDLE HOTDISH

House Republicans were required to surrender their phones ahead of today’s closed-door meeting, leading to buckets, cubbies and a bit of hectic placement as members exited the room.

Rep. Steny Hoyer is taking lunch recommendations from reporters now? We’ll never forget Hoyer’s contribution to Huddle Restaurant Week, sharing his go-to breakfast to fuel up for a busy session day: two pieces of wheat bread, buttered and toasted, bacon, and an over-easy egg. The most important part: Don’t break the yolk!

Conference, caucus, tomayto, tomahto. But Steven Smith has the history on why Republicans aren’t a caucus.

QUICK LINKS

Nancy Mace’s District Moved Right. Then She Helped Oust McCarthy, from Jonathan Weissman at The New York Times

How historic the House GOP’s chaos is, by the numbers, from Aaron Blake at The Washington Post

Sen. Mitt Romney urged Democratic senators to challenge Biden — and he named names, from Suzanne Bates at The Deseret News

TRANSITIONS

Alexandra Robinson has left the Labor Department where she was interim head speechwriter. She just started as majority speechwriter for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

TOMORROW IN CONGRESS

The House convenes at ???

The Senate is out.

THURSDAY AROUND THE HILL

A speaker vote, maybe? Who’s to say?

TRIVIA

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) correctly guessed that 1876 was the only presidential election in which both major party nominees were sitting governors.

TODAY’S QUESTION from Rep. Boyle: Who was the last Democratic vice president to not go on and become the party’s nominee for president?

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to [email protected].

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