WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. House of Representatives Republican leader Steve Scalise is having a stem cell transplant as part of his treatment for multiple myeloma, a common form of blood cancer, his office said in a statement on Friday.
The Louisiana lawmaker will work remotely from home until he returns to Washington in February, the statement said.
His absence cuts Republicans’ already slim majority even further, meaning House Speaker Mike Johnson will be able to lose just one vote on bills without Democratic support. An additional Republican retirement will cut that to zero later this month.
Scalise, the No. 2-ranking Republican in the House who ran for speaker in October, had a positive response to chemotherapy, which was completed in December, his office said.
Scalise announced the cancer diagnosis in August.
(Reporting by Eric Beech; editing by Rami Ayyub, Doina Chiacu and Bill Berkrot)
