Rep. Tom Price backed by Republicans for Majority Leader position

“There is no Speaker in history who has done more to defend innocent human life, to combat a lawless executive branch and to advance a conservative governing vision for our country”. I humbly ask for your support for Majority Whip so that I can use my experiences and skills to best serve our conference. He was tapped a year ago by Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., when he was elected as majority whip following the leadership shakeup after Rep. Eric Cantor’s abrupt departure. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., now the House majority leader, is the front runner to be the next speaker.

The political website Politico says McMorris Rodgers is running for House majority leader.

She says she’ll remain chair of the House Republican Conference.

“I’ve been able to, as whip, help put those coalitions together to pass our conservative agenda and get it over to the Senate”, Scalise told the AJC.

Scalise became GOP whip last June after defeating Reps. Peter Roskam of Illinois and Marlin Stutzman of Indiana for the whip post.

According to a veteran lawmaker and former leadership staff, a few junior Republicans are considering pushing an internal rules change that would forbid someone from running for an elected leadership post while not giving up the other slot. He has led efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. But he also won because of his strong personal relationships with House members.

8:44 AM U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan is backing Georgia Republican Tom Price for majority leader in the upcoming leadership elections, calling him a “committed conservative and a good friend”. Before that vote, he gathered 50 supporters in a House committee room, played “Eye of the Tiger” on the loud speaker and marched to the GOP conference meeting.

“But if there’s going to be a palace coup, perhaps all bets are off, ” he said, referring to opposition from Freedom Caucus members to candidates aligned with Boehner. Boehner faced repeated challenges to his leadership from dyed-in-the-red-wool conservatives who reject compromises on issues such as immigration, defunding Planned Parenthood, the Iran nuclear deal and others that would run into the stone wall of a veto by Democratic President Barack Obama if pushed that far.

Dent said there was “a lot of sadness in the room” when Boehner made his announcement to colleagues.

“We want to function more as a team, and I think we’re on the path to doing that”, Carlos Curbelo, of Florida, said after the meeting.

Fleming said Friday he didn’t know whom he would support for speaker, but that he was looking for someone who would be a voice for conservatives on policy and tactics.

The Freedom Caucus has said it will interview candidates for leadership and vote as a bloc.