Louisiana Congressmen Getting Looked at for Next U.S. House Speaker

WASHINGTON D.C. (KPEL News) - In the wake of Congressmen Kevin McCarthy being ousted from his job as Speaker of the House, discussions have ramped up over who will replace him.

Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana is seen as a highly likely replacement, but he's not the only Congressman from Louisiana who is being talked about.

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Scalise, who represents Louisiana's 1st Congressional District, is currently the House Majority Leader, and has been a part of House Republicans' leadership since President Barack Obama was in office. He was also considered a possible alternative to McCarthy earlier this year when Republicans were fighting over who might be the next Speaker.

Scalise is expected to announce his intention to run for the job on Wednesday. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio has already announced that he is seeking the job.

Rep. Tom Emmer is also making a play for the job, according to reports.

Interestingly, it does not appear that Republicans in the Louisiana delegation are uniting behind Scalise. Rep. Garrett Graves, in a comment to reporters earlier, said he thinks "this whole narrative about every member of the existing leadership taking one step up is bullsh--."

Some are reading that statement as opposition to Scalise, who is currently the highest-ranked Republican in the conference and served directly under McCarthy.

Behind the scenes, Rep. Mike Johnson, also from Louisiana, is also being looked at as an option, but most sources agree that he would not run if Scalise is indeed in the mix and will instead support the New Orleans Republican.

Matt Gaetz, the Congressman behind McCarthy's ouster, previously said he'd support Johnson. However, on Wednesday he appeared to endorse Jordan.

Congressman Clay Higgins said he supported McCarthy, as did Congresswoman Julia Letlow.

“I will not support personal vendettas or politically motivated attacks, nor will I allow our mission to be distracted from serious legislative business," Higgins said in a statement. "My priorities are to force significant reductions in federal spending, to pressure the Executive Branch to restore law and order at the southern border, and to move deeper into impeachment investigations of Joe Biden.”

"I believe the 5th district sent me here to keep our country moving forward and to focus on passing fiscally responsible bills for America’s taxpayers," Letlow posted on social media. "Let’s get back to work. I stand with our speaker."

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The House will not be voting on a new Speaker until next week.