Rep. Steve Scalise unexpectedly withdraws from House Speaker race

• GOP lawmakers have been scrambling to pick their next House Speaker.
• In a secret ballot held Wednesday, House Republicans nominated Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana.

Rep. Steve Scalise is withdrawing his run for the House Speaker position, The Washington Post reported on Thursday, just a day after House Republicans nominated the Louisiana representative for the role at the GOP conference.

The decision came after Scalise failed to secure enough votes to win the Speaker role on Thursday, The Associated Press reported.

Congress was thrown into chaos on October 3 after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his shortlived role as the speaker, leaving a question mark around who will take up the position amid a looming deadline for a government shutdown.

Many names were thrown into the ring, including Donald Trump. There are no rules that necessarily dictate who could be the speaker.

But on Wednesday the pick came down to Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. Scalise, who is the current majority leader, narrowly beat Jordan in a secret ballot among Republican lawmakers.

A spokesperson for Scalise did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.

Scalise's abrupt withdrawal leaves Republicans back in the same position they were in after McCarthy was pushed out of the role — fractured and leaderless.

About 16 Republicans have said that they would not back Scalise, according to CBS News, including Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Nancy Mace. Mace said she wouldn't back Scalise because of his previously reported comments about being similar to Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

Scalise would have needed 217 votes to be elected on the House floor and could only afford to lose four Republican votes if Democrats remained unified in their opposition.

The Republican majority "still has to come together and it's not there," Scalise said Thursday, according to The Associated Press. "There are still some people that have their own agendas. And I was very clear, we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs."