DLNews Politics:

It has been two weeks since Kevin McCarthy was ousted as Speaker, and the House still needs a new leader. This leadership limbo is a severe problem, as Congress faces multiple pressing issues, including funding the government and addressing crises in Ukraine and Israel's war against Hamas.

After two rounds of votes, Jim Jordan will need more than the 217 votes to win the gavel. He needs to lose four Republicans to achieve a majority; some members may change their votes during the vote.

Despite this, supporters of McCarthy are still working to convince some Republican holdouts to back him. If they succeed, he will have enough votes to finally secure the position after the most rounds of ballots for a House speaker since before the Civil War. However, some members-elect need to be added to the chamber, which could potentially alter the vote count. GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt flew home after his wife gave birth on Monday, and Republican Rep. Ken Buck has a medical appointment that will prevent him from participating in the latest rounds of voting.

To address this issue, Pennsylvania Republican Scott Kelly has introduced a resolution that would make him speaker pro tempore by design until a new speaker is elected. If approved, he will remain in the role until November 17, when government funding expires, or until a new speaker is selected, whichever happens first.