Stephen Joseph Scalise[1] (/skəˈliːs/ skə-LEESS; born October 6, 1965) is an American politician who has been serving as the House majority leader since 2023 and the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 1st congressional district since 2008.

On June 14, 2017, during practice for that year's Congressional Baseball Game, Scalise was shot and seriously wounded by an anti-Trump domestic terrorist[5][6][7] who was targeting Republicans.

[18][19] On October 20, 2007, Scalise was elected in a nonpartisan blanket primary to the District 9 seat in the Louisiana Senate vacated by the term-limited Ken Hollis of Metairie.

Fellow Republican Polly Thomas, an education professor at the University of New Orleans who subsequently won a special state House election in 2016, polled 8,948 votes (29 percent).

[21] In 2004, Scalise announced that he would run for the 1st congressional district, but deferred to the preference of party leaders and supported Bobby Jindal, who won the position vacated by the successful U.S. senatorial candidate, David Vitter.

"[34] Scalise was the ranking Republican on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis during the May 19, 2021, hearings involving Emergent BioSolutions founder Faud El-Hibiri and its CEO Robert G.

[42] Scalise subsequently won a three-way race for whip, winning on the first ballot despite the efforts of fellow candidates Peter Roskam and Marlin Stutzman.

[43][44] He came under fire for using the assistance of a federal lobbyist, John Feehery, when hiring staff for the Majority Leader's Press Office.

The practice was taking place at the Eugene Simpson Baseball Fields in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia.

Senator Jeff Flake and Representative Brad Wenstrup, a former podiatrist, ran to assist Scalise after Hodgkinson was shot.

[49] Initially conscious, Scalise went into shock while being taken to MedStar Washington Hospital Center[50][51] in critical condition, where he underwent immediate surgery.

He was hit by a single rifle bullet that "travelled across his pelvis, fracturing bones, injuring internal organs, and causing severe bleeding".

[52] On June 21, the hospital issued a press release stating: "Congressman Steve Scalise continues to make good progress.

[57] On September 28, to applause and cheers, he returned to the House of Representatives, where he gave a speech about his experience related to the traumatic events.

[59] He was a Bernie Sanders supporter and volunteer, and a fierce critic of Trump and the Republican Party on social media, in letters to the editor, and in phone calls to his representative.

[8][46] Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring concluded Hodgkinson was "fueled by rage against Republican legislators" and the shooting was "an act of terrorism.

[65] In May 2021, he called for the ouster of Liz Cheney as House Republican Conference Chair due to her vote to impeach Trump for inciting a mob to attack the U.S.

[66] On May 19, 2021, Scalise and the seven other House Republican leaders voted against establishing a national commission to investigate the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol Complex.

In the aftermath of controversy surrounding the 2020 presidential election, Scalise refused to acknowledge the loss of president Donald Trump.

[74][9] Scalise supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order temporarily banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.

[81] In 2018, Scalise co-sponsored a bill to "strengthen school safety and security", which required a two-thirds vote for passage given that it was brought up under an expedited process known as Suspension of the Rules.

The House voted 407–10 to approve the bill, which would "provide $50 million a year for a new federal grant program to train students, teachers and law enforcement on how to spot and report signs of gun violence".

At the same time, it would authorize $25 million for schools to improve and harden their security, such as installing new locks, lights, metal detectors and panic buttons.

Scalise condemned the Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that same-sex marriage bans violate the constitution.

[88][90][91] In 2002, Scalise was a speaker at a convention for the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO), a group which was founded by David Duke.

[99][100] Various Louisiana politicians, including Republican Governor Bobby Jindal and Democratic Congressman Cedric Richmond, defended Scalise's character.

[101] Speaker of the House John Boehner voiced his continued confidence in Scalise as Majority Whip saying that he had "made an error in judgment" and was "a man of high integrity and good character.

[103] Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center called upon Scalise to step down from his leadership position as Majority Whip.