Republicans nominate Majority Leader Steve Scalise to be new House Speaker

Washington DC - On Wednesday, Majority Leader Steve Scalise became the Republican nominee for Speaker of the House after Representatives gathered on Capitol Hill to cast their vote.

Congressional Republicans voted on Wednesday to nominate Steve Scalise as their nominee to become the new Speaker of the House.
Congressional Republicans voted on Wednesday to nominate Steve Scalise as their nominee to become the new Speaker of the House.  © ALMOND NGAN / AFP

Democrat and Republican Representatives met separately behind closed doors to nominate their own candidate a week after Kevin McCarthy was voted out of the position.

Though Democrats nominated Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, they currently lack a majority in Congress, leaving the final decision up to their Republican colleagues.

Before voting on their nominee, Republicans were initially forced to vote on a proposal to raise the vote threshold required to select a nominee, which aimed to avoid a situation like the one in January when it took 15 rounds of voting for McCarthy to be voted in.

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The proposal was rejected, and Republicans went on to finally vote for a nominee, choosing between candidates Jim Jordan of Ohio and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

After nearly an hour, Republicans emerged, ultimately picking Scalise with 113 votes to Jordan's 99. Both Democrats and Republicans will now go on to vote to make his new title official.

It's unclear when the vote will be held or if the Republican majority is united enough to make sure Scalise is voted in.

Cover photo: ALMOND NGAN / AFP

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