Kevin McCarthy jabbed at his former No. 2 on Thursday, warning that Majority Leader Steve Scalise is facing a tough climb to claim the speakership he lost.
“It’s possible, but it’s a big hill,” McCarthy told reporters of Scalise’s bid to persuade about a dozen public opponents — and perhaps more private critics — to back him as the next speaker.
Scalise “told a lot of people he was going to be at 150,” McCarthy added. “He wasn’t there.”
The comments are the latest sign of discord between McCarthy, Scalise and their respective camps. Scalise backed McCarthy’s speakership throughout his turbulent nine-month run. But some of McCarthy’s backers remain wary of his longtime rival taking over the conference and got frustrated by how quickly Scalise jumped into the race to succeed him.
The California Republican and his Louisiana colleague never fully embraced each other as governing partners during McCarthy’s time as speaker. While they communicated effectively at times, McCarthy frequently turned to other allies to help him negotiate sticky situations.
And now that Scalise is struggling with an even bigger version of the same problem McCarthy had hanging onto support with a four-vote majority, the former speaker offered no positive predictions for his colleague.
Instead, McCarthy told reporters that “time is of the essence” for Scalise, and that “there’s not that much time left.”
He’s not wrong: Scalise remains short of the 217 votes needed to be elected speaker on the floor, despite winning over a majority of the conference during a closed-door meeting on Wednesday. Republicans are set to meet behind closed doors later Thursday as they try to chart a path forward.
McCarthy batted down a question on Thursday about if he would rather see Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who lost Wednesday’s closed-door conference vote, claim the House’s top spot.
“No, the conference makes that decision,” McCarthy replied, vowing to back whoever the conference supports.
It’s not the first time McCarthy has weighed in on the race to replace him — as some of his most ardent supporters say they plan to vote for him again on the floor. (When that floor vote might happen is unclear, with no Republican currently claiming anywhere near the support to win what could be a protracted, contentious floor fight.)
McCarthy also warned Scalise against cutting deals in order to win the speaker’s gavel, a move he employed himself in order to claim the gavel in January after a 15-ballot slog. As he left the speaker’s suite on Wednesday night, McCarthy told reporters that he didn’t “think the conference would like that.”
Jennifer Scholtes contributed.
