Republicans in Congress have nominated Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana on Wednesday to be the next House speaker, edging out Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.
Scalise is familiar with Alaska energy and has been a strong advocate of not draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as President Biden has done.
In 2008, Scalise and nine other Republican members of Congress visited Alaska, and toured the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the TransAlaska Pipeline. Scalise, from an energy economy state, is pro-American energy. That trip to Alaska came during Scalise’s first year as a congressman.
His nomination, won by a vote of 113-99 in the Republican caucus, now goes to the House floor for a vote, where he will be up against the Democrats’ nominee Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.
Rep. Mary Peltola voted 15 times for radical Jeffries in January, over the Republican nominee Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted last week after eight hard-right Republicans joined with all Democrats present (Peltola was not present) to remove him as speaker.
Scalise is being treated for cancer. He was shot by a radical Democrat in 2017, while at a practice session for the annual Congressional Baseball Game in Alexandria, Va. At the time he was shot and gravely injured, he was House Majority Whip. He is now House Majority Leader.
The vote on his nomination is expected to start Wednesday.
