House Majority Whip Steve Scalise said Thursday that he and his fellow Republican leaders met with President Trump after House Speaker Paul Ryan announced he’ll retire at the end of this year.
“What I’ve always said is first of all I’ve got a job right now as the House majority whip,” Mr. Scalise, Louisiana Republican, said on Fox News when asked if he’s interested in pursuing the speaker position.
Mr. Scalise said that the leaders discussed Mr. Trump’s agenda and the policy goals they want to accomplish this year. He said that he’s worried Republicans may take their eye off keeping the majority if they become distracted by a race for speaker.
“If we’re worried about what we might want to be eight months from now, first of all, we need to stay focused on getting our job done and keeping the majority because if we lose focus of that, Nancy Pelosi will be speaker. And I think we know how devastating that will be for our country,” Mr. Scalise said.
Republicans are playing defense in the House, with only 24 seats keeping them in the majority.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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