Diaz-Balart Backs Scalise for House Speaker

The fight for House Speaker continues as Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan (R) vies for the position. Although Jordan has maintained that Republicans support him, he’s fallen short of receiving the 217 votes needed. Among those detractors are a number of Florida lawmakers including Rep. Mario Diaz Balart (R), who argues that Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise (R) should be House Speaker.

With two votes in, Jordan cannot cross the threshold of 217 votes to become House Speaker.

It also appears that, with each new vote, Jordan loses more support.

In the second vote, Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) voted for Florida Rep. Byron Donalds (R), Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R) voted for California Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R), and Florida Rep. John Rutherford (R) voted for Scalise.

With pressing matters mounting and the lawmakers facing calls of RINO for not supporting Jordan, the lawmakers are now responding to the criticism.

When asked how he would respond to calls that he’s holding things up, Diaz Balart responded that he’s “actually trying to get this thing moving forward as quickly as possible.”

Diaz Balart went on to explain that “a very small group of Republicans” coordinated with the “more radical elements of the Democrats” to remove McCarthy from his post.

In turn, Republicans regrouped and elected Scalise as the nominee. Because of this, Diaz Balart considers Scalise the true nominee.

Jordan has found a supporter in the likes of Texas Rep. Chip Roy (R), who was interviewed outside of the Capitol after the second vote.

Comparing it to McCarthy’s vote in January, Roy informed that Jordan was at 199 compared to the 200 votes that McCarthy received when McCarthy had low support. Despite this, Roy called this part of the process and that he’s “sticking” with Jordan until he wins the necessary support for him to be House Speaker.