October 12, 2023

U.S. House Republicans on Wednesday nominated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise for speaker in a closed-door voting amid deep divisions, paving the way for a floor vote in the chamber to elect a new speaker after Kevin McCarthy's historical ouster last week.

Scalise, the No. 2 Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, won the nomination in a 113-99 vote over Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

The vote came after the unprecedented ouster of McCarthy, who was booted out of his position on Tuesday last week in a move initiated by a member of his own party. It marked the first time in U.S. history that a House speaker was voted out of office in the middle of a term.

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