1st LD: U.S. House Republicans nominate Steve Scalise for speaker in closed-door vote

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House Republicans on Wednesday nominated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise for speaker in a closed-door voting, paving the way for a floor vote in the chamber to elect a new speaker after Kevin McCarthy's historical ouster last week.

Scalise, the No. 2 Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, won a 113-99 vote over Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

The vote came after the unprecedented ouster of McCarthy, who was booted out of his position on Tuesday last week, in a move initiated by a member of his own party, marking the first time in U.S. history that a House speaker has been voted out of office in the middle of a term.