Any advice, Kevin? Ousted speaker McCarthy visits Steve Scalise after he became the GOP nominee for Speaker after beating Trump ally Jim Jordan…. as the race begins to secure 217 votes

Kevin McCarthy visited Steve Scalise’s office as the new GOP nominee for Speaker of the House preparing to battle Jim Jordan for the 217 votes needed to secure his position.

Deposed speaker McCarthy (58) was pictured walking into his old office where his replacement Steve Scalise (58) settled into the new position after he secured the GOP nomination as speaker of the House.

The GOP conference chose Scalise as their nominee in a secret closed-door vote Wednesday morning after days of drama and infighting.

Lawmakers leaving the room said Scalise won 113 votes, while Jim Jordan of Ohio, who Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement says is a “STAR,” got 99. A handful of Republicans refused to vote for either.

With Scalise falling short of 217 in the conference vote, the Louisiana congressman’s path to the speakership is uncertain. He held meetings to try to unite Republicans behind him, but some lawmakers said they still supported Jordan.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise emerged from the House Republican caucus after being nominated for Speaker of the House

Lawmakers including Kevin McCarthy (pictured) left the room saying Scalise won 113 votes, while Jim Jordan of Ohio, who is a ‘STAR’ according to Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement, got 99.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy walked into his former office where Majority Leader Steve Scalise worked, after Scalise was nominated for Speaker of the House, on Capitol Hill

With Scalise falling short of 217 in the conference vote, the Louisiana congressman’s path to the speakership is uncertain. He held meetings to try to unite Republicans behind him, but some lawmakers said they still supported Jordan

Trump posted his endorsement on Truth Social on Friday: ‘Congressman Jim Jordan was a STAR long before he made his very successful trip to Washington, DC He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, and has my Full & Total Endorsement!’

McCarthy, R-Calif., was suddenly and unexpectedly removed as speaker last week after just nine months in the job, leaving the House essentially leaderless with North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry in a caretaker role.

Scalise, who is McCarthy’s no. 2 in leadership is a popular lawmaker who suffered major injuries after being shot during a baseball practice with colleagues in 2017. He recently announced that he has blood cancer, but insisted that he is feeling well and getting up. to the top post.

Scalise said that if elected, his first action would be to pass a bipartisan resolution making clear that the House stands with Israel in its war with Hamas. The speaker will also need to quickly figure out a way to unite Republicans and keep the government open before a mid-November deadline

“Obviously, we still have work to do,” Scalise told reporters after the vote. “We’re going to have to go up on the House floor and sort this thing out to reopen the House.”

The ‘magic’ number to become speaker was 218 out of the 435 members of the House.

Many past speakers, including McCarthy and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., secured the position with fewer votes than that because some members voted in attendance instead of calling a name.

Each legislator who votes ‘present’ lowers the overall score needed to achieve a majority.

A source familiar with Jordan’s plans said he would drop out of the race and urged his supporters to vote for Scalise.

McCarthy was suddenly and unexpectedly removed as speaker last week after just nine months in the post

Scalise said that if elected, his first action would be to pass a bipartisan resolution making clear that the House stands with Israel in its war with Hamas

Matt Gaetz spoke to reporters as he left a meeting where House Republicans voted for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise to be the next Speaker of the House on Capitol Hill

Rep. Florida’s Carlos Gimenez vowed to continue supporting Kevin McCarthy – despite not being on the ballot.

McCarthy said he was not involved in trying to convince holdouts to vote for Scalise. Most of the holders who oppose Scalise also opposed McCarthy.

Asked about his relationship with Scalise on Wednesday, McCarthy told DailyMail.com: ‘I want to help someone who gets speaker.’

Tensions between McCarthy and Scalise are an open secret in Washington.

They only boiled over publicly when conservatives got angry about the deal McCarthy made with Joe Biden on the debt ceiling.