‘I feel good’: Steve Scalise returns to work for first time after cancer treatments

WASHINGTON – Wearing a mask and driving a cart, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise returned Thursday to the U.S. Capitol for the first time since he began treatment for a form of blood cancer.

“I feel good right now,” Scalise told The Advocate | The Times-Picayune from his office overlooking the National Mall.

It was his first visit to his office since announcing Aug. 29 that he would go into treatment for multiple myeloma, a relatively rare form of cancer that was once considered a death sentence but for which treatment options have improved greatly in recent years.

“I was home dealing with the first few weeks of evaluation, and chemo, we’re three weeks in. My doctor said, ‘You can come up and see how you feel,’” Scalise said.

The Jefferson Republican returned to multiple challenges: Factions of the GOP House majority are squabbling over next year’s federal budget, which must be decided by Sept. 30 to prevent a federal shutdown. Scalise and other House leaders also have to deal with an impeachment inquiry they authorized into Democratic President Joe Biden.

Scalise said he had been phoning committee chairs from Louisiana, but nothing beats being in the room when negotiations are happening.

“It feels good to get here to the Capitol, in person, and get to the meetings,” Scalise said.

Scalise had talked strategy with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whose office is next door, moments earlier.

He also spent time Thursday with House Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-New York, discussing what kind of legislative instruments could be used to approve either a spending plan or a continuing resolution that would punt on any hard decisions but allow the government to continue operating for a few more months.

“There’s a lot of legislative instruments being discussed,” Scalise said. “We are still working on coming to a consensus on how to deal with government funding, as well as the border crisis.”

The House passed a bill on immigration, and Scalise wants to see elements of that legislation adopted, such as putting back into place procedures requiring immigrants to wait in other countries while seeking asylum.

A priority is getting the Department of Defense funding bill passed. A vote on that bill was pulled Wednesday night.

“The votes aren’t there, but we’re still having discussions,” Scalise said. “We’re still in negotiations on a number of a few of those (appropriations) bills. DOD (Department of Defense funding) is one those bills. Homeland Security, there’s a number of bills we’re having conversations about. We haven’t gotten an agreement. But we still have time.”

So far, the Senate and the White House have not been involved in the conversations, he said.

“It’s got to come to a head, because the idea that there’s another $40 billion here, another $50 billion there, and in the meantime the economy is still struggling … the idea that you can just ignore these problems is just a fallacy,” Scalise said.

House committee work on the business dealings of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, had uncovered about $20 million in fees from foreign governments. But those inquiries went about as far as they could, Scalise said.

With an impeachment inquiry, the three relevant House committees can access more documents and do a more thorough investigation, Scalise said – adding that he wants to know if any of that money ended up with the president.

“The impeachment inquiry gives us the opportunity to go and find more of the facts,” Scalise said.

He unwrapped a photo showing him entering 10 Downing Street, the London residence of the United Kingdom’s prime minister, where he visited earlier in the summer. “How fast things change,” Scalise mused.

Scalise said he lost his appetite while out politicking during the August recess.

“I’d eat lunch, then wasn’t hungry,” he said. His wife saw that something was wrong and encouraged him to go to the doctor.

He did, and after some blood work was sent immediately to the hospital for a more in-depth analysis. Scalise said his bloodwork in January showed nothing amiss. That means the cancer developed in the last eight months, he said, adding that his medical team feels they caught it early enough.

Scalise said he is wearing a mask because his immune system is vulnerable as he undergoes chemotherapy. He has to be careful about getting too close to others or being in a large crowd – no LSU football games for him this season.

Scalise said he’ll be treated for another three to six months until the cancerous cells stop replicating and pushing out the white blood cells that protect against infections.

While experts consider the condition much more treatable than it once was, people diagnosed with multiple myeloma are just 57% as likely as people who don’t have the disease to be alive after five years, according to the American Cancer Society. That statistic does not take into account what stage the cancer is in, but Scalise’s was caught early.

Many of Scalise’s treatments are outpatient and are being handled in Jefferson Parish. He is taking injections and prescription medicine. His physicians are working out a protocol to handle chemotherapy in Washington.

“The treatments seem to be working so far,” Scalise said. “Obviously, we’re monitoring it closely. It’s just good to be back up here.”