Jordan nominated by GOP for House speaker after Scalise drops bid: Breaking down your FAQs

House Republicans on Friday nominated Rep. Jim Jordan, the founder of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to be their next speaker.

Jordan won in a closed-door vote 124 to 81 over Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, an ally of Kevin McCarthy — the first speaker to ever be removed when the House voted to vacate the leadership position earlier this month.

His nomination came a day after Rep. Steve Scalise abruptly withdrew his bid to become speaker. Scalise had defeated Jordan in a closed-door vote the day before.

The ongoing drama on Capitol Hill has left Americans with plenty of questions — and here are our reporters’ attempts to answer some of them.

What happened exactly? How did we get here?

Jon Ward, Yahoo News Chief Washington Correspondent: It’s more like, what is happening, or isn’t. It’s a slow-motion car crash that’s still going on. The Republican Party in the House is paralyzed by infighting, dysfunction and performative politics, and can’t choose a new leader after ousting their last one.

Why was McCarthy ousted?

Dylan Stableford, Yahoo News Senior Reporter: Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida firebrand who antagonized McCarthy for months, eventually engineered his ouster. Jon wrote about some of the reasons Gaetz did so here. But Gaetz said he wants to see reforms regarding how Congress spends money, and the short-term budget deal McCarthy struck with Democrats was what triggered him.

Jon: Yeah, they got rid of him because he worked with Democrats. Oddly enough, Democrats helped them do it.

Dylan: House Democrats could have voted against vacating the speakership and saved McCarthy’s job, but they saw no incentive to do that.

Andrew Romano, Yahoo News West Coast Correspondent: The problem is, Democrats control the Senate and the White House. So Republicans have to work with them if they want to get anything done — the operative phrase there being “get anything done,” which does not seem to be the GOP’s goal, to put it mildly.

What's not getting done right now? Funding the government and aid for Israel, right?

Jon: Yes, and funding the government each year is one of the most basic responsibilities of Congress.

Andrew: Right. It’s not just any old moment. Israel is at war. The government is set to shut down in about a month. So Republicans are under a lot of pressure to resolve this impasse. And it’s going to keep increasing.

Jon: They don’t seem to feel the pressure that badly!

Andrew: I think they feel it. They just don’t have any way out.

So who are the candidates for speaker now? And what do they need to win?

Andrew: To win the speakership, a candidate needs 217 votes if all 433 members (there are two vacancies currently, so they’re done from their normal 435) — including Democrats — choose to take part in an open floor vote. There are 221 Republicans in the House chamber. So that's Option A: finding a candidate who can get to 217 solely with Republican support. Steve Scalise couldn't, because the right wing of the party either opposed him from the start or turned on him once it looked like he would fall short.

Will: So that brings up Jim Jordan, who lost to Scalise the other day but has now been nominated.

Andrew: But he's going to have the same problem as Scalise, in reverse. Moderate Republicans aren't going to support him because they don't want to keep rewarding bad behavior. And because the GOP majority is so narrow, it only takes a few objectors to tank a nominee. The question then becomes, is there anyone else who can get there? Some names have been floated.

Dylan: Jordan was endorsed by Trump, who for some reason kept referring to his high school and collegiate wrestling achievements in a Truth Social post endorsing him.

Andrew: And he only got 99 votes. The power of a secret ballot!

Recommended reading

• AP: House Republicans are mired in chaos after ousting McCarthy and rejecting Scalise
• NBC News: Jordan and Scott jump into speaker race after Scalise drops out
• Politico: Fear and loathing grips the House GOP

What other options are Republicans considering?

Will Rahn, Yahoo News Senior Editor: Patrick McHenry, who's been filling in as temporary speaker, might become ... well, maybe not speaker, but a more powerful interim speaker of some sort?

Andrew: He’s a McCarthy ally, though.

Will: Yes. That’s a wrinkle.

Andrew: I could see a temporary extension for McHenry, which is being discussed.

But wouldn’t that prevent the House from doing certain things?

Jon: I don’t think anyone is sure of the limits on a temporary speaker because we’ve almost never been here before. A lot of it is up to Congress if a majority can decide on what they want to empower him to do. The problem once again is consensus, but if people are desperate enough, things can happen, maybe.

Andrew: That’s option B: Kicking the can down the road, which Congress has been known to do.

As far as other candidates, do we think any of the other names are realistic?

Jon: I think who the names are is important. I also think timing may be key. At a certain point, people are going to be so exhausted, frustrated and angry they’ll settle. We think. And whoever is standing around at that point, and is currently the “it” name, may just end up speaker because of that.

Andrew: The other names I’ve seen are Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma.

Can you briefly explain why those names are being floated?

Jon: Emmer is basically a “next in line” type because he’s majority whip, No. 3 in the leadership. And Hern is chair of the Republican Study Committee, which is not a formal leadership position but is nonetheless prestigious inside the House GOP. Kind of interesting that Elise Stefanik is not getting more buzz. She’s the No. 4 person in House GOP leadership, as chair of the Republican Conference. She definitely shouldn't be overlooked.

Andrew: I could maybe see her being that last man — woman — standing. The beneficiary of timing, as you suggested before, Jon.

What about Trump?

Andrew: That's option C.

Jon: Never say never? I don't see it, but I could be blind.

Andrew: Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas and others are still clinging to the notion of Speaker Trump. So he has some backers. But I think he'd lose an internal secret ballot, and I think he knows that.

Jon: The fact that it’s a secret ballot makes it very hard for Trump, I think.

If you had to predict who winds up as the next speaker, who would you pick?

Andrew: I can tell you who it's not going to be: Kevin McCarthy. There is an option D, in which he comes back. Some Republicans are circulating a letter arguing for his reinstatement. Not gonna happen. I’m also skeptical about option E, the bipartisan speaker idea. That's where centrist Democrats and Republicans come together to pick someone like House Rules Chair Tom Cole, who would then agree to lead in a bipartisan way.

Will: I'm going to stick with my original prediction: One way or another, this ends with Speaker Elise Stefanik.

Andrew: That’s not a bad prediction. My guess is they kick the can with McHenry, Speaker Elise in the end.

What’s next?

Jon: I don’t think anything is happening this weekend, for what it's worth. There are only 209 Republicans in D.C. today, because a number have already left. And Democrats are making sure they stay around to prevent Republicans from ramming someone through.

Bigger picture though: This is really illustrating the consequences of an anti-government ethos that has been prominent in the GOP for decades, mixing with changes in how members of Congress now often use Congress to serve themselves rather than participating in Congress to serve the American people. Democrats kind of muddied the waters a bit by helping Matt Gaetz get rid of McCarthy. But Gaetz’s takedown of McCarthy wasn't some Mr. Smith Goes to Washington moment, though he tried to portray it as such.