TRANSCRIPT
The Republican party in the United States House of Representatives have nominated Steve Scalise of Louisiana to be the chamber's new Speaker. It comes just a week after former U-S House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted by a smaller group within the Grand Old Party.
The 58-year-old Mr Scalise was chosen for the nomination over House judiciary committee chairman Jim Jordan - who was backed by Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again allies.
After winning with a vote of 113 to 99, Mr Scalise thanked his party colleagues.
"Obviously, we still have work to do. We're going to have to go upstairs on the House floor and resolve this and then get the House opened again. We have a lot of work to do. Not just in the house for the people of this country, but we see how dangerous of a world it is and how things can change so quickly. We need to make sure we're sending a message to people all throughout the world that the House is open and doing the people's business, making sure that we're unequivocally standing and our first resolution that we passed under Speaker Steve Scalise will be to make it clear that we stand with Israel. The McCaul-Meeks resolution will be our first order of business."
But, the fight isn't over yet. Now that he's been nominated, Mr Scalise still needs 217 votes on the House floor to officially take the place of Kevin McCarthy.
That vote is expected to take place at some stage tomorrow. And Mr Scalise faces a tough crowd following his nomination.
The last three holders of the position have seen their time in the role cut short, by hard right-members of the Republican party. Senator McCarthy spent just nine months in the job before he was ousted as speaker last week.
And while some are welcoming of Mr Scalise...
CROWD: "Long live speaker Scalise!"
...Not everybody is entirely pleased with his nomination, like Republican Ralph Norman of South Carolina.
Norman:"I voted for Jordan, but with Scalise, won out right. I’ll vote for Scalise. But at least it's time to have a speaker.”
Reporter: "Do you think the conference can get behind Scalise today?"
Norman: "We’ll see, it's close, but I think, well, I know what I'm going to do."
Previously, nominated speakers required 218 votes out of the 435 House members. But, former speakers like Kevin McCarthy and Nancy Pelosi came into the top job with fewer votes, as some members voted, 'present,' instead of calling out an actual name.
And whenever that happens, it lowers the overall tally needed for a majority. Hence why, Mr Scalise only requires 217 votes.
Traditionally, the speaker candidate has been a member of the House. But it's not a requirement - meaning senators can vote for anyone they wish to on the floor.
For example, in January, a few Republicans even voted for former President Donald Trump in a move that took votes away from Kevin McCarthy.
But Mr Scalise has faced his fair share of adversity, too.
In 2017, the New Orleans-born senator was badly wounded in a shooting by a gunman who was angry about then-President Donald Trump and his Republican colleagues. He also recently announced that he has blood cancer, but insists he is up for the job.
"The Senate has to start doing their work. And by the way, in that legislation, including the state and Foreign Ops bill, the defense appropriations bill includes funding for Israel, things like Iron Dome, precision guided missiles, things that could be used today to help them in this war. So there is a lot to do."
If elected, Mr Scalise has said his first point of call will be to pass a bipartisan resolution establishing the House's support of Israel in its war with Hamas.
Republican Chairman on the House Committee of Foreign Affairs, Michael McCaul says, he'll quickly have figure out a way to reunite Republicans, too.
"We can't afford this dysfunction. The nation can't afford this. The American people can't afford it. We need the speaker in the chair. We're in dangerous times right now. We're in three major global conflicts, potentially. And we cannot afford to not have a speaker in the chair. And the first bill, the speaker told me, will be my resolution condemning Hamas and praising its support of Israel."
