On October 17, 2023, following the October 3 removal of Republican Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House, members of the U.S. House of Representatives began the process of holding an intra-term election for speaker of the House. The election concluded on October 25, 2023 when Republican Mike Johnson of Louisiana was elected the 56th speaker of the House on the fourth ballot.
In the 118th Congress, the House Republican Conference held the majority of seats. McCarthy had been elected speaker on January 7, 2023, after an unusual fifteen rounds of voting in the January speakership election. On October 3, a motion to vacate McCarthy's speakership passed by a vote of 216–210, with eight Republican representatives voting along with all Democrats to remove McCarthy. This was the first time in congressional history the House voted to remove an incumbent speaker during an active congressional legislative session.
Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, also a Republican, served as speaker pro tempore until a new speaker was elected. Hakeem Jeffries of New York was unanimously nominated for speaker by the House Democratic Caucus on October 10. Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana was nominated by the House Republican Conference on October 11, but he withdrew from the race the next day. Jim Jordan of Ohio was nominated on a second internal Republican conference vote on October 13. On October 20, after Jordan failed to be elected speaker in three separate votes, the House Republican Conference voted to remove him as the Republican Party's nominee for speaker. On October 24, the conference nominated Majority Whip Tom Emmer for speaker. Emmer withdrew his candidacy shortly after Republican former president Donald Trump voiced his opposition to it.
Later on October 24, Louisiana representative and conference vice chair Mike Johnson was selected as the next nominee for the speakership. On October 25, Johnson was elected speaker, defeating Jeffries in a 220–209 vote. Unlike previous ballots, no Republicans defected, and every representative present voted for their party's nominee for Speaker.
Background
On October 2, Matt Gaetz of Florida filed a motion to vacate, forcing a vote on McCarthy's removal within two legislative days. Gaetz filed the motion after McCarthy relied on Democrats to help pass a bipartisan continuing resolution to fund the government through November 17, averting a government shutdown. Voting began the following day; McCarthy ruled out a deal involving support from Democrats in exchange for concessions. Following an unsuccessful vote to table (kill) the motion, the motion passed by a vote of 216–210, with Republican representatives Andy Biggs, Ken Buck, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Nancy Mace, and Matt Rosendale voting along with all Democrats to remove McCarthy. This was the first time in congressional history the House voted to remove an incumbent speaker during an active congressional legislative session.
In accordance with procedures that had been established in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, McCarthy at the start of his term created a secret ordered list of members to temporarily act as speaker of the House if the speakership becomes vacant. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina was at the top of McCarthy's list and became the speaker pro tempore following McCarthy's removal. Immediately after becoming acting speaker, McHenry called the House into recess in order to allow time before a speakership floor vote for the party caucuses to each meet in order "to discuss the path forward".
Process and nominations
The speaker of the House of Representatives is the House's presiding officer, and the position is explicitly established by the Constitution of the United States. The House elects its speaker at the beginning of a new Congress (i.e. biennially after a general election) or when a speaker dies, resigns, or is removed from the position by a vote held during an active term.
The selection of a speaker has the highest priority in the operation of the House, and is described in Rule #1 of the 118th United States Congress Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives. In past cases when the speakership has been vacant, the House has not conducted any other business until completing the election of a new speaker. Differing opinions have been expressed about whether this is the only action that is allowed to be taken during such a period, and particularly regarding whether the House could pass legislation during such a period or not, but it has never been attempted.
Following the vote to remove McCarthy, House Republicans and Democrats held separate caucus meetings to determine who their respective party caucuses (the House Republican Conference and House Democratic Caucus) would support for the speakership. In such votes, both caucuses require a simple majority of caucus members in order for a candidate to receive the nomination of the caucus.
Since 1839, the House has elected speakers by roll call vote. Traditionally, each party's caucus selects a candidate for the speakership from among its senior leaders prior to the roll call. Representatives are not restricted to voting for the candidate nominated by their party, but generally do, as the outcome of the election effectively determines which party has the majority and consequently is expected to organize the House. Representatives that choose to vote for someone other than their party's nominated candidate usually vote for someone else in their party or vote "present".
The Constitution does not explicitly require the Speaker to be an incumbent member of the House and non-members have received votes in multiple Speaker elections since 1997. Nevertheless, every speaker has been a member and the constitutionality of the eligibility of non-members to serve as Speaker is disputed.
To be elected speaker, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes cast, as contrasted with an absolute majority of the full membership of the House – presently 218 votes, in a House of 435. There have only been a few instances during the past century where a person received a majority of the votes cast, and thus won the election, while failing to obtain a majority of the full membership. One of these instances was in the previous speakership election, in January 2023 opening the 118th Congress), when Kevin McCarthy was elected with 216 votes, less than 218 due to "present" votes, which indicate abstention. Such a variation in the number of votes necessary to win a given election might arise due to vacancies, absentees, or members being present but not voting. Upon winning election, the new speaker is immediately sworn in by the dean of the United States House of Representatives, the chamber's longest-serving member. If no candidate wins a majority of the "votes cast for a person by name", then the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected.
Initial nominations
Democratic nomination
On October 10, 2023, the House Democratic Caucus voted unanimously for Hakeem Jeffries of New York (the incumbent House Minority Leader) to be its nominee. Jeffries had been the Democratic Caucus's nominee in the January 2023 speakership election, in which all present Democratic members unanimously voted for him across all fifteen rounds of balloting.
Republican nomination
Lead-up to first conference vote
After the speakership was vacated on October 3, a number of different candidates for the Republican nomination indicated interest including Jim Jordan of Ohio, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, and former president Donald Trump. On October 4, Jordan and Scalise announced their candidacies. That same day, Troy Nehls of Texas announced that he would nominate Trump for speaker. Trump publicly considered running for the position, even weighing a visit to the Capitol to gather support for his bid. On the evening of October 5, Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that he would not run for speaker and instead would endorse Jim Jordan.
On Friday, October 6, it was reported that a televised debate was planned to be hosted by Bret Baier of Fox News between Scalise, Jordan and Kevin Hern of Oklahoma on the following Monday. However, several Republican representatives criticized the planned debate as a "circus". In response, Scalise, Jordan and Hern each announced they would not participate, and the event was cancelled.
Scalise nomination
The first House Republican Conference vote was held on October 11, 2023. Prior to the vote, House Republicans tabled (killed) a motion from Representative Chip Roy that would have required the Republican nominee to receive 217 votes, instead of a simple majority, to become the nominee. Despite a challenge from Jordan, Scalise won the majority of votes, becoming the Republican nominee for speaker of the House. Only 212 out of 224 conference members cast a vote for either Scalise or Jordan. In an interview released shortly after the vote, Ken Buck claimed that he had voted present, as he was not satisfied with either candidate. Representative Cory Mills missed the vote because he was in Israel helping to evacuate Americans impacted by the Gaza war. Many lawmakers declined to run, notably Kevin McCarthy, Matt Gaetz, and former president Donald Trump.
Minutes after the meeting concluded, representatives Lauren Boebert, Bob Good, Nancy Mace, Max Miller, Barry Moore, and Lloyd Smucker said that they would continue to vote for Jordan on the House floor. Representative Carlos Gimenez said he would vote for Kevin McCarthy on the floor unless McCarthy told him otherwise. These defections were unexpected since abiding by the results of an internal nominee selection was "historically a given". It was expected that Democrats would unanimously vote for Jeffries when the House convened for a roll call, with there being no expectation that any Democrats would either vote for Scalise or abstain from the vote in order to intentionally lower the number of Republican members' votes Scalise would need in order to become speaker. As a result, these Republican defections meant that Scalise presumptively lacked sufficient support to win the speakership on a floor vote. Republicans decided to postpone the afternoon's scheduled floor vote to the following day in order to give Scalise time to secure support from holdouts. On October 12, a floor vote was again postponed due to Scalise's inability to win over holdouts, and Scalise ended his candidacy for speaker.
Jordan nomination
The second House Republican Conference vote was held on October 13, 2023. After losing to Steve Scalise in the first vote held on October 11, Jim Jordan won the majority of the votes, becoming the Republican nominee for speaker of the House, despite a late challenge from Austin Scott. Seven members of the conference cast a ballot for someone other than Jordan or Scott, and one member voted present. Mike Johnson also considered running, but decided not to, and endorsed Jordan instead.
Immediately after the second vote, the House Republican Conference held a validation vote asking representatives whether they would support Jordan on the floor. 152 voted yes, while 55 voted no. One member voted present.
To build support for his candidacy, lawmakers and activists allied with Jordan took to interviews and social media to pressure Republicans to back Jordan. During the four days between the Republican conference vote and the first floor vote on Tuesday, October 17, many influential Republicans who have opposed Jordan, such as Mike Rogers, Ann Wagner, and Ken Calvert, flipped to supporting him. Many previous holdouts changed their support to Jordan as he agreed to link funding for aid to Ukraine and Israel in their respective wars.
Calls for a bipartisan coalition
On October 4, Democratic representative Vicente Gonzalez suggested that he would be open to doing a deal with House Republicans and vote for a moderate Republican speaker such as McHenry or Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, who also co-chairs the Problem Solvers Caucus. However on October 5, Fitzpatrick said he had no interest in running for speaker and is only interested in working on behalf of Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district, saying it would be the only office he would ever run for.
In an October 6 op-ed in The Washington Post, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries proposed that "Republican partners willing to break with MAGA extremism should work with Democrats in the chamber to strike a deal to form a 'bipartisan governing coalition.'" Jeffries wrote that under such a deal, the "House should be restructured to promote governance by consensus and facilitate up-or-down votes on bills that have strong bipartisan support" and argued that this approach would "reflect the inescapable reality that Republicans are reliant on Democratic support to do the basic work of governing". In an appearance on All In with Chris Hayes on the same day, Democrat Jamie Raskin of Maryland suggested that moderate Republicans should strike a governing deal with Democrats and support Jeffries, an independent like Angus King, or an anti-Trump Republican such as Liz Cheney or Mitt Romney as Speaker. Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman floated the idea of former president George W. Bush becoming the next speaker.