The House’s second-ranking Republican leader, Steve Scalise, has been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer and begun treatment that will last “several months,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
(Bloomberg) — The House’s second-ranking Republican leader, Steve Scalise, has been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer and begun treatment that will last “several months,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
Scalise, 57, added that he expects to continue working and plans to return to Washington when the House reconvenes in September.
The House majority leader, who ranks just below Speaker Kevin McCarthy, said he was not feeling like himself in the past week, and had some blood work done. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, “a very treatable blood cancer,” he said.
“I am incredibly grateful we were able to detect this early,” Scalise said.
In 2017, Scalise was shot and gravely wounded when a gunman opened fire on Republicans in Alexandria, Virginia, as they practiced for a charity baseball game. A bullet ripped through his hip, causing massive blood loss and damage to bones and internal organs.
President Joe Biden called Scalise and offered his hope for a swift recovery, the White House said Tuesday evening.
Earlier in the day, McCarthy said he had spoken with Scalise and that the lawmaker was “in good spirits, as nothing — not a gunshot and certainly not cancer — will stop him from accomplishing what he sets his mind out to.” The speaker added that Scalise is “a dear friend,” and wished him “a speedy treatment.”
The Louisiana Republican is often mentioned as a potential successor to McCarthy. The two men have maintained a cooperative and cordial public relationship, though there has been some tension over party strategies on legislation and efforts to address demands of far-right lawmakers.
Americans with multiple myeloma are 58% as likely to survive five years from diagnosis as people the same age and gender without the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.
The cancer is rare, with only about 35,000 cases in the US per year, and occurs in a type of white blood cell called plasma. Cancerous plasma cells accumulate in bone marrow and crowd out healthy cells. According to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the cancer is incurable but often can be treated for years. It weakens bones and can cause them to fracture, among other complications.
Scalise is a leading conservative voice, serving as as the House Republican majority Whip from 2014-2018, and House Minority Whip from 2019-2022, before taking his current post in January.
He has represented a district that covers most of New Orleans’ suburbs since first being elected to Congress in 2008.
–With assistance from Justin Sink.
(Updates with Biden calling Scalise, in sixth paragraph.)
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