Aaron Schock appears to have made a sweet deal in exchange for supporting Steve Scalise over fellow Illinoisian Peter Roskam for House Majority Whip.
The Republican congressman, of Peoria, was named senior deputy whip on Thursday by Scalise, the newly elected majority whip. The Louisiana native wrangled enough votes to edge out Illinois' Peter Roskam in GOP leadership elections last week. Up until that moment, Roskam had been the fourth-ranking House Republican as chief deputy whip under Kevin McCarthy, who moves from whip to majority leader in the shake-up sparked by Eric Cantor's stunning primary loss and resignation.
Though he aggressively scrambled to nab the promotion, Roskam lost Schock as a key ally in his bid to move up the ladder. Now the 33-year-old ambitious Rep. begins his climb.
Scalise tapped North Carolina's Patrick McHenry, another southerner, to replace Roskam as his deputy. Besides Schock, he appointed four other senior deputy whips: South Dakota's Kristi Noem; Florida's Dennis Ross; Ohio's Steve Stivers, and Missouri's Ann Wagner. A group photo, via Scalise:
Senior Deputy Whip Team: @PatrickMcHenry @RepKristiNoem @RepDennisRoss @aaronschock @RepSteveStivers @RepAnnWagner! pic.twitter.com/bgB9e9qRed — Rep. Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) June 26, 2014
Somewhere Peter Roskam is shaking his fists in the air. Or not.
