Washington [US], October 14: U.S. House Republicans on Friday nominated right-wing figure Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, for House speaker in a closed-door voting amid continued intraparty divisions.
Jordan, co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, won a vote of 124 to 81 over Austin Scott, an ally of the ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who just announced he would seek the nomination hours earlier.
In a closed door voting on Wednesday, Jordan lost the Republican speakership nomination to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise in a vote of a 99-113. However, Scalise failed to garner enough support within the party and announced on Thursday he was withdrawing from the race.
Jordan now faces a similar challenge as Scalise did, as he needs at least 217 votes from his fellow Republicans in order to become the next speaker, with a slim 221-212 Republican majority in the chamber.
Several moderate Republicans already said they would not support him, paving the way for a continuation of a bitter party infighting, which already paralyzed the House for days.
The latest chaos came after the unprecedented ouster of McCarthy, who was booted out of his position on Tuesday last week, in a move initiated by a conservative member of his own party. It marked the first time in U.S. history that a sitting House speaker has been voted out of office.
The House can't move forward on its legislative process until a speaker is chosen, and lawmakers need to pass a spending bill before government funding runs out in mid-November. The House is also under pressure to take action following the escalation of Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Source: Xinhua