Desperate Republicans consider all options in speaker stalemate, including Trump and Democrats

Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s path to the House speaker’s chair hit a brick wall Thursday as roughly 20 conservatives refused to support him, prompting Republicans to panic.

Lawmakers desperate to begin legislating pitched wild ideas such as cutting deals with Democrats and naming alternative candidates, including former President Donald Trump.

Several hours of closed-door discussions among rank-and-file Republicans did not persuade Scalise holdouts. Instead, he lost at least one supporter, Rep. Ana Paulina Luna of Florida, who said she no longer backed the Louisiana Republican after backlash from her pro-Trump constituency.

Frustration boiled over as the chamber remained paralyzed because of rules prohibiting legislative business without an elected speaker. A group of hard-line conservatives pushed out Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Oct. 4, and many refuse to support Mr. Scalise.

Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said Scalise backers should blow past the Republican holdouts and cut a deal with Democrats to provide the votes on the House floor for Mr. Scalise to win the speaker’s job.

Such a plan likely would require some unprecedented power-sharing agreement or concession to the Democrats, who are in the minority.

Rep. Troy Nehls, Louisiana Republican, suggested nominating Mr. Trump if Mr. Scalise can’t round up enough votes for House speaker.

“If we’re here till Sunday, Monday, Tuesday of next week, and we don’t have someone, we’ve got to come up with another option,” Mr. Nehls said. “Maybe it’s somebody from the outside. Why not the leader of our party?”

Mr. Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, had endorsed conservative firebrand House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio for speaker.

Mr. Jordan lost to Mr. Scalise in a secret ballot vote Wednesday by the House Republican Conference. The vote was 113-99, with a dozen Republicans voting “present” or “other.” Three Scalise backers were delegates from U.S. territories who can’t cast votes on the House floor for speaker.

The tally leaves Mr. Scalise well short of the roughly 217 votes he needs to secure the speaker’s gavel. Republicans control 221 votes, giving them only a slight edge over Democrats, who control 212 votes and have nominated Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York for speaker.

The exact number of lawmakers refusing to back Mr. Scalise was in flux Thursday evening. One lawmaker said up to 20 Republicans won’t fully commit to voting for Mr. Scalise on the House floor. The closed-door meeting ended without a firm plan, and Mr. Scalise left to meet individually with the holdout Republicans.

Republicans were split on whether to keep brawling over the gavel in private or to begin voting on the televised House floor until a Republican wins enough votes to become speaker. Many Republicans want to avoid a repeat of January, when the House took several days and 15 rounds of votes to elect Mr. McCarthy of California. 

Mr. Jordan’s backers, meanwhile, see an opening for him to surge ahead in the vote count as the conference grows exhausted trying to find enough support for Mr. Scalise.

Hard-line conservative holdouts see Mr. Scalise, a longtime Republican leader, as more of the same at a time when many in the party are looking for the spark of energy and change they believe Mr. Jordan will bring to the speaker’s chair, particularly on spending issues.

“The Swamp refuses to accept the new reality: We won’t be bullied into accepting the status quo or just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic while the American People drown in debt and inadequate leadership,” Rep. Scott Perry, Pennsylvania Republican, posted on social media after Thursday’s conference meeting.

Mr. Perry is chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of hard-line conservatives who seek to rein in federal spending, secure the border and reduce the size of government, among other priorities. Mr. Jordan, 59, co-founded the Freedom Caucus in 2015. Although still influential with the group, he has not persuaded the holdouts to get behind Mr. Scalise.

Some who are reluctant to back Mr. Scalise said they are concerned about his health.

The 58-year-old lawmaker is undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma, a treatable but incurable blood cancer. Mr. Scalise said his doctor gave him the go-ahead to run for speaker, and he shows no signs of illness. Mr. Scalise has made a remarkable recovery after he was nearly killed by a left-wing gunman who targeted Republicans at a baseball field in 2017.

Mr. Trump referred to Mr. Scalise’s illness in a Fox News Radio interview, claiming the lawmaker “is in serious trouble from the standpoint of his cancer.”

Scalise backers downplayed his cancer and said he is healthy and is responding better to the cancer treatment than doctors anticipated.

Mr. McCarthy, the recently deposed speaker, said Mr. Scalise may be in an uphill battle as he tries to unite the conference behind him.

“He’s got a difficult task,” Mr. McCarthy said.