The U.S. House has now entered its 21st day without a speaker, entering its third week in disarray as the search for a new leader continues to create turmoil in the lower chamber.
House Republicans recently held a closed-door meeting to choose House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., as their nominee for the position of speaker. This marks a recurring situation, as they have struggled to unify and elect a new speaker for three weeks.
To secure the GOP nomination, a candidate requires a simple majority from the conference. However, the real challenge for any speaker nominee lies in garnering near-unanimous support from House Republicans to be elected as the speaker.
Over the past few weeks, the last two speaker nominees, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, withdrew from the race due to divisions within the House Republican conference.
Follow this live update from USA TODAY for the latest on the ongoing speaker selection process.
Will there be a House speaker vote soon? House Republicans are set to reconvene in a closed-door conference meeting to discuss the next steps in the process of electing a new speaker. However, Emmer's speakership may be in jeopardy due to opposition from some conservative members who perceive him as too moderate. Photo by United States Congress, Wikimedia commons.