Speaker of the House John Boehner decided to push back the elections for House Majority Leader and Majority Whip until next month, giving conservatives more time to offer candidates to fill the positions, according to Politico.
Politico reports this move is “a blow to Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), who announced less than 24 hours earlier he had the votes to win the majority leader race.”
The vote for a nominee to replace Boehner as speaker on Thursday is still on schedule.
This delay could give conservatives more time to offer up a candidate for the second rank position in leadership, currently being sought by Scalise and Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), according to Politico.
“Our team is strong and growing, and we look forward to having all of these elections take place as soon as our conference is ready,” said Scalise’s spokesperson Chris Bond.
Politico reported that Boehner was behind the push to get Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) to run for Majority Leader. However, Gowdy turned down that request.
“After consulting with my colleagues, I am announcing today that all members of the House of Representatives will vote to elect their next Speaker during a floor vote on October 29th,” Boehner said in a statement issued by his office.
“Next Thursday, October 8th, the members of the House Republican Conference will meet to elect our nominee for Speaker. After the new Speaker is elected on October 29th, the members of our Conference will select the rest of their leadership team. The new Speaker will establish the date for these additional leadership elections,” read the statement.