The latest news and updates on the House speaker fight:
- Rep. Steve Scalise, of Louisiana, abandoned his bid to be the next speaker, announcing tonight he would withdraw a little more than 24 hours after House Republicans nominated him to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy, of California.
- Scalise defeated Rep. Jim Jordan, of Ohio, but it remains unclear whether Jordan can now secure the nomination from Republicans or whether he could get 217 votes on the House floor.
- Democrats are backing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, of New York.
- The race was triggered last week when Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., made a motion to vacate the chair of speaker and won a majority vote when all Democrats and eight Republicans voted against McCarthy.
- The House has been left leaderless as a brutal attack by Hamas against Israel unfolded, which has led to deadly airstrikes on Gaza, leaving Congress unable to mobilize any aid or response.
Coverage on this live blog has ended. Follow the latest updates from NBC News here.
Jordan mum on whether he'll launch another speaker bid
Jordan dodged questions tonight about whether he plans to launch another bid for speaker.
"Look, when I decided to run before, I waited until the next day after Kevin [McCarthy] made his decision. I thought that was appropriate. I will do the same thing right now. I’ll wait," he told reporters.
Rep. Ann Wagner: 'HELL NO' on Jordan as speaker
At least one House Republican is more than just a no on Jordan as a potential nominee for speaker.
Asked whether she could confirm she was a no on Jordan, Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri responded via text that she was a “HELL NO.”
Conservatives say they aren’t worried about empowering Democrats in speaker race
Despite all the chaos, conservative Republicans say they have no concern that some in their party may team up with Democrats to elect a speaker.
“That’s the thing that gets you beat in a primary,” said Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla.
“You’d get your a-- beat,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.
Republicans to meet again tomorrow at 10 a.m.
The House Republicans will huddle again at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
House adjourns until 9 a.m. tomorrow
The House stands adjourned until 9 a.m. ET tomorrow.
Jordan departs meetings
Jordan has left the meeting.
Rep. Mike Garcia questions whether Jordan can get to 217 votes
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., predicted Jordan might have the same problem that Scalise faced — getting 217 votes on the House floor.
"I think it's a math problem, frankly," Garcia said.
"There's an academic debate about whether we reward, you know, the tyranny of the minority in this case," he said, adding, "I would support Jordan."
"The problem is I think there's enough people who see what's happened in the last 48 hours to not support him that we're going to have the same problem with Jordan that we had with Scalise."
Rep. Collins: 'We should just have a lottery'
Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., poked fun at the GOP's struggles to select a speaker. He posted on X: "We should just have a lottery. If you lose, you have to be speaker."
New York Republican says Jordan should get a shot at speaker
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said her GOP colleagues should give Jordan an opportunity for the speakership.
"Look, I supported Kevin McCarthy," Malliotakis said, adding that she initially supported Jordan as his successor but that he "did not get the most votes, Steve Scalise did."
"If Steve Scalise doesn’t have the votes then we need to see, maybe Jim Jordan can get to the 217 necessary. We never asked that question," she said.
Malliotakis described herself as a "team player" and said there "seems to be a small group that doesn’t want to work with the team. And that is frustrating for me, because I’m fine with any of those three to be the speaker. I just want to get back to work and do my job."
"We have real world stuff happening," she added.
Van Drew: Jordan should have a chance
Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., said Republicans are still working out the process of whether they nominate a new speaker or go straight to Jordan.
“I think Congressman Jordan should have his chance to reach that number. If he cannot then we have to move on,” he said, adding that Republicans must “get our act together.”
