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House Republicans have begun voting for speaker candidates as there is a growing sense of urgency to determine who will lead the chamber and address pressing issues on the U.S. domestic and international agenda.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan made their case to colleagues in a closed forum Tuesday night, although both candidates could not prevail ahead of Wednesday’s meeting vote.
Eight opponents led an unprecedented insurrection against Kevin McCarthy last week, and two rivals are vying for support in a private vote.
“I don’t think anyone has 217 (votes),” Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene said late Tuesday. “If the results show that neither of them can hit the target, then yes, we will have to produce another candidate.”
For Republicans, the lack of a clear outcome could lead to a repeat of January, when the party took a record 15 rounds of voting to elect McCarthy as speaker.
More broadly, the sudden ouster of the former speaker last week caused chaos in the House. The U.S. House of Representatives is deadlocked, unable to pass legislation as the United States weighs whether to provide additional aid to Israel and Ukraine in their conflicts with Hamas and Russia. Lawmakers must also pass a spending bill by November 17 to avoid a U.S. government shutdown.
House Republicans will choose between Scalise, who has climbed the leadership ladder over the past decade, and Jordan, who former Republican House Speaker John Boehner once described as a “legislative terrorist.”
From 2011 to 2021, Jordan voted against multiple deals aimed at ending the debt ceiling crisis, then supported the 2023 agreement that suspended federal debt limits until January 1, 2025 and limited spending.
McCarthy later sought to bring Jordan on board, giving him senior posts on the powerful Oversight and Judiciary Committees.
Scalise has positioned himself as a conservative who can form a coalition. In 2017, he gained national attention after surviving a fatal injury during a practice before the annual congressional baseball game. Scalise is seen as a more traditional Republican on national security issues and is more likely than Jordan to support additional aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia.
House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers told the Financial Times he would support Scalise. “I think he’s someone who can unite us and get the votes we need,” Rogers said.
Jordan has the advantage of public support from House Republicans and the backing of former President Donald Trump, but is still far from winning a House majority.Scalise once had health problemsBut raised millions more than Jordan in his campaign to win and control the House.
Although several House Republicans have said they will vote for McCarthy to be speaker again, he urged colleagues not to raise his name. He would not tell reporters who he supports to succeed him.
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