In a secret ballot Wednesday, Republicans voted 113-99 to select Scalise of Louisiana, the House majority leader, over Jordan, a fiery Ohio conservative who chairs the Judiciary Committee and is backed by former President Donald Trump.

To now win the speakership, Scalise will need support from a majority of the House, or 217 members, if all current lawmakers cast votes for a candidate. The House is split 221-212, giving Republicans little room to maneuver because all Democrats are expected to oppose him. More than a half dozen Jordan supporters said Wednesday they wouldn’t back Scalise, likely enough to block him from claiming the gavel unless he can win some of them over.

The razor-thin nature of Scalise’s victory left the House staring down a potential replay of the 15-ballot marathon back at the start of the year, when Kevin McCarthy of California emerged as the winner only after making a series of promises related to spending and other issues to conservatives. Some of those same holdouts helped to oust him just nine months later.  …

Congress has little time to get back to work before the threat of a government shutdown returns. Lawmakers passed a short-term spending bill that expires in mid-November and little progress on spending negotiations can occur while the House is paralyzed with no speaker. The fighting in Israel and Gaza also added more urgency to restoring House operations, lawmakers said.

Jordan didn’t publicly endorse Scalise on Wednesday, but wasn’t working to stoke opposition to him, according to his spokesman. Still, Jordan’s decision not to publicly throw himself behind Scalise gave Jordan’s backers room to dig in.

Many said they viewed electing Scalise as simply extending the status quo, while others have specific objections tied to strategy around spending bills or the process used to conduct the speaker election. …

For the second time in less than a year, the GOP was moving to fill the top job and tamp down dissent that could derail their pick, after McCarthy’s historic ouster brought the chamber to a standstill last week. While some lawmakers said they would like McCarthy back in the speakership, he took himself out of the running. …

Other lawmakers said they were ready to coalesce around Scalise and end the messy, public battle over their party’s leadership.

“My folks in West Texas don’t send me up here to wander in the wilderness for 40 years and fail to advance our agenda,” said House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R., Texas). “There’s a lot on the line and there’s a lot going on in the world. It’s time to unite and rally behind our designee.” …

Headed into Wednesday, much of the focus on installing a speaker has centered on the eight Republicans who pushed out McCarthy. Jordan’s supporters had said that Jordan was best positioned to bring dissidents into the fold. They cited his history as an outsider who himself rose by bucking the system, in large part through helping found the House Freedom Caucus, a brass-knuckled group that is now the ideological home to many of the dissidents.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.), who precipitated the leadership crisis when he brought the motion to vacate to the floor, has said he would support either Scalise or Jordan. …

Scalise’s supporters have touted him as best positioned to unify the conference. …

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(Excerpt from The Wall Street Journal. Photo Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)