Rep. Mike Johnson Elected Speaker of the House

Updated Oct. 25, 2023, 2:20 p.m. EST

• Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) was elected as the 56th Speaker of the House of Representatives, defeating Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) by 11 votes. 

Updated Oct. 24, 2023, 1:00 p.m. EST

• House Republicans selected Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) to be their speaker nominee following several rounds of voting. The vote took place behind closed doors via secret ballot.
• Rep. Emmer is the House majority whip, and was backed by Rep. Kevin McCarthy. 

Updated Oct. 20, 2023, 2:20 p.m. EST

• House Republicans voted to drop Rep. Jim Jordan as their nominee for the speakership after he lost three rounds of voting. 
• Another candidate forum will be held Monday night to determine the next speaker nominee, according to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy said:

"We will have to go back to the drawing board."

Updated Oct. 18, 2023, 5:30 p.m. EST

• Rep. Jim Jordan lost his second bid for House Speaker on Wednesday. The representative said he would keep fighting to secure the majority vote. 
• The next vote is expected to be held at noon on Thursday. The House has been without a speaker for 15 days. 

Updated Oct. 17, 2023, 5:00 p.m. EST

• Rep. Jordan failed to win the House Speaker election on the first round of voting. The House voted 200 to 232, with 20 Republicans voting against him.
• Jordan is expected to call more rounds, but his allies don't anticipate he will win anytime soon. 

Updated Oct. 16, 2023, 6:00 p.m. EST

• On Friday, Rep. Jim Jordan was nominated for Speaker of the House. 
• The Ohio representative is forcing a floor vote Tuesday at noon on the position. Jordan previously walked back a stance that he would only call a vote if he reached the necessary 217 votes, which he fell short of on Friday. He told CNN that his opinion on this changed due to the Israel-Hamas war. He said:

"You can't open the House, and do the work of the American people, and help our dearest and closest friend Israel if you don't have a Speaker."

• On if he can get the votes he needs to win the speakership, Jordan said:

"I don't know if there's any way to ever get that in the room...But I think the only way to do this is...you have the vote tomorrow."

Updated Oct. 13, 2023, 11:40 a.m. EST

• Thursday evening, Rep. Steve Scalise withdrew from consideration for the speakership, just a day after Republican House members nominated him for the position. 
• Scalise said he was far from getting the 217 votes needed to be elected. He said:

"I just shared with my colleagues that I was withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker-designee. If you look at where our conference is, there's still work to be done. Our conference still has to come together, and it's not there. There are still some people that have their own agendas."

• Republicans are back to square one on choosing a leader. Rep. Jim Jordan is expected to start pursuing the position on Friday while other representatives meet to discuss a new speaker. 

Updated Oct. 11, 2023, 1:45 p.m. EST

• In a 113-99 vote, Republican representatives nominated Rep. Steven Scalise to be Speaker of the House. Next, the entire House will vote.

What’s the story?

• The House of Representatives' Republican members will vote on Wednesday to nominate a candidate for speaker, a week after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Cali.) was removed from the position.
• House Majority Leader Rep. Steven Scalise (R-La.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) are the top two candidates. Whoever wins today’s vote will still have to face an entire House vote to secure the chair. 
• In January, McCarthy faced 15 rounds of voting until he was finally elected. It is unclear if either Scalise or Jordan can receive the 217 votes needed to win the speakership.
• The earliest the House could vote is 3 p.m. EST.

This is a developing story and will be updated. 

(Photo credit: iStock/mrod)