US House Speaker Election Could Get Longer Than Expected - Here's All We Know

 

On the first round, 20 GOP legislators opposed Ohio Republican Jim Jordan’s effort to become speaker of the House on Tuesday.

Democrats will undoubtedly continue to support their own nominee, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, so he will need to unseat at least 16 Republicans in order to win the presidency.

Republicans now hold a 221–212 majority in the House of Representatives. On Wednesday, lawmakers are anticipated to return for a second round of voting.

Following California’s Kevin McCarthy’s unexpected resignation from the position after only nine months in office, the current speaker’s race is unlike any other.

The speaker is typically chosen every two years in January and is one of the most influential positions in the country, second only to the presidency.

Once there was a quorum in the House on Tuesday, the candidates for speaker were announced by each party. Democrats opted to support Jeffries while Republicans preferred to select Jordan.

Steve Scalise of Louisiana initially received his colleagues’ nomination for speaker last week. Second-place finisher Jordan declared he would support his nomination if it got to the floor.

Jordan also exhorted the other conference participants to back Scalise. The refusal of more than a dozen Republicans, however, forced Scalise to resign a day later.

Jim Jordan, who is favored by Donald Trump, is nonetheless opposed by certain conference participants who have doubts about his abilities to command and unite the group.