Steve Scalise grapples with holdouts in battle to become House speaker

House Republicans plan to huddle behind closed doors Thursday afternoon to work toward the election of a new House speaker after Majority Leader Steve Scalise narrowly won the party's nomination in a private ballot at the Capitol Wednesday.

During the closer-door session Thursday, Scalise will address the conference, sources told ABC News' Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott.

The House adjourned Wednesday night with no scheduled floor vote for a new speaker, further complicating Scalise's path to the gavel. On Wednesday, House Republicans narrowly elected Scalise -- pushing aside Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a firebrand and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

With all Democrats supporting Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Scalise can only afford to lose four votes on the floor (depending on absences) and still win the speakership.

By ABC News' count, at least nine Republicans don't plan to back him -- the latest sign that Republicans are still deeply divided and fractured after the removal of Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker. Scalise would need 217 votes on the House floor to be elected speaker.

The latest GOP holdouts come from across the party spectrum -- from deep-red rural districts to more moderate suburban regions -- and had a range of explanations for why they wouldn't back Scalise.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., suggested she won't back Scalise because he has cancer. The Louisiana congressman is currently undergoing aggressive treatment for blood cancer.

"We need a speaker who is able to put their full efforts into defeating the communist Democrats and save America," Greene wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who, like Greene, still plans to vote for Jordan on the floor, says she can't vote for Scalise after learning that Scalise attended an event linked to a white supremacist group in 2002.

"Especially given what's happening in Israel right now, I just cannot support someone who's associated with anything that divisive, whether it's race or religion," Mace said to reporters.

In 2015, Scalise came under fire for attending and speaking at a workshop organized by an alleged white supremacist group in 2002. A Scalise spokesperson told ABC News at the time that he didn't remember attending the event, at which he reportedly gave a conventional stump speech, and he may not have been aware of its affiliation. A local blogger once said Scalise described himself as "David Duke without the baggage," but it's not clear that Scalise ever described himself that way publicly.

While Scalise has won over some of McCarthy's critics, such as Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., he may have alienated some of McCarthy's loyal allies, such as Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., and Lloyd Smucker, R-Penn.

"He's going to have to give us a message or an understanding of how he's going to bridge that gap and make certain that he brings Congress together and not divide the Republican conference more," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said on CNN.

"Steve's going to have to talk to them all, see what their concerns are. But I'm supporting Steve," McCarthy said as he left the Capitol Wednesday.

Jordan, who was the first to officially launch a bid to become speaker, said he plans to vote for Scalise on the floor and is encouraging his colleagues to do the same, multiple sources told ABC News.

Scalise met late into Wednesday evening with some of the holdouts, but he clearly has more wrangling to do if he wants to avoid another messy public spectacle.

"What unfolded over the last 24 hours was not the way I think we should do things," said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who accused Scalise of trying to rush to the floor after winning the GOP vote for speaker.

The pressure is on for Republicans to elect a new speaker so the House can provide aid to Israel after Hamas-led attacks have left at least 1,200 dead -- including at least 25 Americans. The new speaker will also come in with a little more than a month to push through funding legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown, which would have rippling consequences for millions of employees and recipients of social services.

The House reconvened Thursday, so the earliest a vote could happen would be Thursday afternoon.

"We are in an unprecedented moment," Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., said Wednesday. "This is the fastest speaker's election in modern history."

ABC News' Jay O'Brien, John Parkinson, Lalee Ibssa and Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.

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