Republicans on Wednesday nominated Steve Scalise as the next speaker of the House of Representatives, but struggled to quickly unite their deeply divided majority and elect the conservative in a public vote after losing Rep. Kevin McCarthy had been removed from office.

In private votes at the Capitol, Republicans in the House of Representatives narrowly overruled Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the fierce Judiciary Committee, in favor of Scalise, the current majority leader. The Louisiana congressman, who is battling blood cancer, is seen by some as a hero after surviving a mass shooting of lawmakers at a congressional baseball game in 2017.

There is still a lot of work to do, Scalise said afterward.

There could be a vote of the whole house

as

Coming soon, but tensions are still high among Republicans, who have brought the House of Representatives to a standstill with bitter infighting after McCarthy’s historic impeachment last week. Wednesday’s planned vote was uncertain.

It’s an extraordinary moment of political chaos at a time of uncertainty at home and crisis abroad, just 10 months after Republicans took power. In their quest to operate as a team and run government more like a business, the Republican majority is far from that goal.

We must make sure we send the message to people around the world that the House is open to the people’s business, Scalise said.

What is uncertain is whether Jordan, the hardliner backed by Donald Trump, will throw his support behind Scalise in what is sure to be a tight vote in the full House. Democrats will likely oppose the Republican nominee.

Jordan said little after the vote, only that the Republican majority “is divided.”

A centrist leader, Representative Don Bacon

(

R-Neb.

)

said

:

We need a speaker so we can govern.

What we should have heard today after the votes were counted was: ‘I will wholeheartedly support Steve. Let’s get behind him,” Bacon said. We haven’t heard that.

Americans are watching. A quarter of Republicans say they approve of the decision by a small group of Republicans to impeach McCarthy

(R-Bakersfield)

as a speaker. Three in 10 Republicans believe it was a mistake, a poll shows

T

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The far-right coalition of lawmakers that defeated McCarthy

R-California,

has shown what a big role a few lawmakers can play in choosing his successor.

“I’m not happy with either choice at this point,” said Rep. Ken Buck

(

R-Col.

)

who voted for outright McCarthy.

It is unclear whether Scalise can gather the votes needed from nearly all Republicans to overcome Democratic opposition. Normally the required majority would be 218 votes, but there are currently two vacant seats, lowering the threshold to 217.

Many Republicans want to avoid the spectacle of a messy floor fight in the House of Representatives, like the grueling brawl in January when McCarthy became speaker.

People don’t like taking the floor with a simple majority and then having C-SPAN and the rest of the world watch as we fight this fight, said Rep. Kat Cammack

(

R-Fla.

).

We want to keep this family fighting behind closed doors.”

Behind closed doors, Republicans voted to set aside a proposal

a

rule change that would have attempted to ensure a majority vote before nominating the nominee for a full vote.

Without a change in the rules, the Republican Legislature would be expected to agree to a majority victory process.

Neither Scalise nor Jordan were seen as heir apparent to McCarthy, who was ousted by the far-right flank after the speaker pushed Congress to pass legislation that could prevent a government shutdown.

All three men have been here before. In 2018, they similarly vied for leadership, with McCarthy and Scalise continuing the rivalry to this day.

Scalise was considered for the job but faced a challenge from Jordan, a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, who was seen as a tougher option after McCarthy’s ouster.

Jordan is known for its close alliance with Trump, especially when the then-president was working to overturn the results of the 2020 election, leading to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Trump supported Jordan’s bid for the gavel .

Several lawmakers, including Rep. Matt Gaetz

(

R-Fla.

)

who engineered McCarthy’s ouster said they would be willing to support Scalise or Jordan.

Long live Speaker Scalise, Gaetz said after the vote.

For now, Rep. Patrick McHenry

(

RN.C.

)

who was named as the speaking professional

–

temporarily, is actually in charge. He has shown little interest in expanding his power beyond his assigned role as interim leader charged with ensuring the election of the next chairman.

This role was created in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to ensure continuity of government. McHenry’s name was at the top of the list McCarthy submitted when he became speaker in January.