House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of La., speaks to reporters as he arrives for a meeting of House Republicans to vote on candidates for Speaker of the House on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023 in Washington. Stalemated over a new House speaker, the Republican majority is scheduled to convene behind closed doors to try to vote on a nominee. But lawmakers say Wednesday's private ballots to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy could take a while. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
By Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking
Republicans on Wednesday nominated Rep. Steve Scalise to be the next House speaker and will now try to unite around the conservative in a floor vote to elect him after ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the post.
In private balloting at the Capitol, House Republicans pushed aside Rep. Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chairman, in favor of Scalise, the current majority leader, lawmakers said. The Louisiana lawmaker is seen as a hero to some after surviving a mass shooting on lawmakers at a congressional baseball game practice few years ago.
Republicans who have been stalemated after McCarthy’s removal will seek to assemble their narrow House majority around Scalise in what is certain to be a close vote of the full House. Democrats are set to oppose the Republican nominee.
Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
The stunning removal of Kevin McCarthy as speaker has left the House adrift as Republicans struggle to bring order to their fractured majority and begin the difficult and potentially prolonged process of uniting around a new leader.
New York City is challenging a unique legal agreement that requires it to provide emergency housing to anyone who asks for it, as the city's shelter system strains under a large influx of international migrants who have arrived since last year.
Warned to mind his out-of-court comments, former President Donald Trump returned to his New York civil fraud trial Wednesday as lawyers on both sides closely questioned an accountant who prepared financial statements at the heart of the case.
The third day of former president Donald Trump's civil fraud trial kicked off earlier Wednesday in New York, a day after a judge imposed a limited gag order on Trump.
The National Zoo's three giant pandas — Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji — are set to return to China in early December with no public signs that the 50-year-old exchange agreement struck by President Richard Nixon will continue.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy plans to force a vote Tuesday on the far-right effort to oust him from his leadership position and insists he will not cut a deal with Democrats to remain in power, setting the stage for an extraordinary and unpredictable showdown on the House floor.
