Steve Scalise wins House GOP speaker nomination – live

Despite serving as House majority leader under Mr McCarthy, the Louisiana Republican has a strained relationship with the Californian. In 2018, Mr Scalise said he was interested in the speakership after the upcoming departure of then-Speaker Paul Ryan if Mr McCarthy couldn’t get the support he needed, with the relationship between the two men subsequently taking a turn for the worse.

The 58-year-old Mr Scalise served in the Louisiana state House and had a very brief tenure in the state Senate before he joined the US House in 2008, picking up Bobby Jindal’s seat when he became governor.

Grabbing the top post of the conservative group known as the Republican Study Committee before becoming majority whip in 2014, he served in that post for almost a decade before becoming majority leader earlier this year.

Mr Scalise and his top rival for the speakership, hardliner Jim Jordan, both voted to back objections to the Electoral College results that certified the victory of President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Haley Talbot of CNN has been tracking the no votes against Steve Scalise for speaker and those House Republicans who currently say they are undecided, and things look to be trending in the wrong direction, with nine no votes and seven undecideds.

The current House Majority Leader has a lot of work to do if he wants to win the gavel anytime soon as he can only lose four GOP votes…

Steve Scalise was one of the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election results – as was his chief rival for House Speaker, Jim Jordan.

And they still can’t fully speak their mind about the 2020 election results, according to a Colorado congressman and fellow member of the GOP.

“There’s a large group of Trump followers in this country that would disagree with that and there would be a political penalty for saying such a thing,” Rep Ken Buck told MSNBC on Wednesday.

New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik took a not-so-subtle shot at her Republican colleagues who are seeking new leadership positions amid the chaotic effort to elect a new House Speaker.

“Congratulations to our colleague and friend the Legend from Louisiana @SteveScalise for earning the support from the House Republican Conference as the Speaker-Designate,” she wrote on X on Wednesday. “Now is NOT the time to be campaigning for other leadership positions, House Republicans must work to unite to elect the Speaker – and that is my focus as Conference Chair at this important time.”

Kevin Hern of Oklahoma and Tom Emmer of Minnesota have both announced plans to run for House Majority Leader, the post Mr Scalise will vacate if he’s elected Speaker of the House.

Is Donald Trump losing his hold on the Republican Party?

His endorsement for the next Speaker of the House seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

Last week, the former president endorsed Jim Jordan as his pick for the next House leader, writing on social media last week that the Ohio rep would be “a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!”

The GOP caucus doesn’t seem to agree, as the majority of the party now wants Steve Scalise as the next House Speaker.

The diverging opinions might not mean too much, though.

The House of Representatives is in recess, meaning a vote on Speaker of the House remains unlikely for today.

Steve Scalise is the Republican Party’s pick for the position, but multiple GOP lawmakers have signalled their intention to vote against him. He can only afford four defections, or else the party will have to engage in another multi-ballot effort to elect a House leader who can win a majority.

The vote was 113-99 in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday morning. A loud cheer was heard by reporters as the result was announced.

Mr Scalise will now need to muster 217 votes on the floor of the House to become speaker and second in line to the presidency. A full chamber vote previously scheduled for 3pm ET on Wednesday has been delayed.

This will require the backing of almost all of the GOP conference — just five members could block him from winning the gavel.

The triumph of Mr Scalise is especially notable given that he defeated Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate for the role – Mr Jordan. His nomination follows the recent dramatic ousting of speaker Kevin McCarthy.

A conservative Republican who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy grilled both of the Republican candidates for speaker about whether Preisdent Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election of the House in a closed-door meeting.

Rep Ken Buck (R-CO), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, told reporters on Wednesday that he grilled Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) about whether the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

Both Mr Jordan and Mr Scalise voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results on January 6. Mr Buck voted to certify. Mr Buck said it was important to have clarity about such an important topic. Politico first reported Mr Buck’s question on Tuesday evening.

“They weren’t direct, they evaded the question,” Mr Buck told reporters. As a result, Mr Buck said that he voted “present” during the closed-door session to consider Mr Jordan and Mr Scalise.

Lawmakers were expected to meet on the floor on Wednesday afternoon before recessing, reported CNN.

Mr Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, was chosen by his GOP colleagues over Ohio lawmaker Jim Jordan to replace Kevin McCarthy, who was kicked out of the job by his party last week.

Mr Scalise will now have to win a floor vote in the House with a majority of the whole chamber to become speaker.

He will require 217 votes to become speaker, meaning he can only lose four GOP votes if all Democrats vote against him.

Steve Scalise has cleared a major hurdle with today’s behind-the-scenes GOP vote, but that’s not the end of the race for Speaker of the House.

Now, the full House of Representatives will vote on his candidacy.

Republicans have a majority in the House, but only a slim one; to get the necessary 217 votes, Mr Scalise can only lose up to four GOP members.