Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana was nominated by the House Republican Conference on October 11, but he withdrew from the race the next day.

Later on October 24, Louisiana representative and conference vice chair Mike Johnson was selected as the next nominee for the speakership.

Unlike previous ballots, no Republicans defected, and every representative present voted for their party's nominee for Speaker.

[3] On October 2, Matt Gaetz of Florida filed a motion to vacate, forcing a vote on McCarthy's removal within two legislative days.

[5] Voting began the following day; McCarthy ruled out a deal involving support from Democrats in exchange for concessions.

[1] In accordance with procedures that had been established in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, McCarthy at the start of his term created a secret ordered list of members to temporarily act as speaker of the House if the speakership becomes vacant.

[15] Traditionally, each party's caucus selects a candidate for the speakership from among its senior leaders prior to the roll call.

Upon winning election, the new speaker is immediately sworn in by the dean of the United States House of Representatives, the chamber's longest-serving member.

[22][23] If no candidate wins a majority of the "votes cast for a person by name", then the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected.

[28] After the speakership was vacated on October 3, a number of different candidates for the Republican nomination indicated interest including Jim Jordan of Ohio, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, and former president Donald Trump.

[30] Trump publicly considered running for the position, even weighing a visit to the Capitol to gather support for his bid.

[31] On the evening of October 5, Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that he would not run for speaker and instead would endorse Jim Jordan.

[32] On Friday, October 6, it was reported that a televised debate was planned to be hosted by Bret Baier of Fox News between Scalise, Jordan and Kevin Hern of Oklahoma on the following Monday.

[39] Representative Cory Mills missed the vote because he was in Israel helping to evacuate Americans impacted by the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.

[40] Many lawmakers declined to run, notably Kevin McCarthy,[41] Matt Gaetz,[42] and former president Donald Trump.

[43] Minutes after the meeting concluded, representatives Lauren Boebert, Bob Good, Nancy Mace, Max Miller, Barry Moore, and Lloyd Smucker said that they would continue to vote for Jordan on the House floor.

[47] As a result, these Republican defections meant that Scalise presumptively lacked sufficient support to win the speakership on a floor vote.

Republicans decided to postpone the afternoon's scheduled floor vote to the following day in order to give Scalise time to secure support from holdouts.

[57] Many previous holdouts changed their support to Jordan as he agreed to link funding for aid to Ukraine and Israel in their respective wars.

'"[60][61] Jeffries wrote that under such a deal, the "House should be restructured to promote governance by consensus and facilitate up-or-down votes on bills that have strong bipartisan support" and argued that this approach would "reflect the inescapable reality that Republicans are reliant on Democratic support to do the basic work of governing".

[62] In an appearance on All In with Chris Hayes on the same day, Democrat Jamie Raskin of Maryland suggested that moderate Republicans should strike a governing deal with Democrats and support Jeffries, an independent like Angus King, or an anti-Trump Republican such as Liz Cheney or Mitt Romney as Speaker.

With all legislative activity in the U.S. House effectively halted while the speakership was vacant, a bipartisan consensus to authorize more military aid to Israel could not be formally acted upon.

[66] In addition, an additional aid package to Ukraine to counter Russia's invasion was a point of contention in the budget negotiations that averted a government shutdown on September 30; the aid to Ukraine was not included in the stopgap bill due to far-right opposition, but Democrats believe a majority exists in the chamber to enact it as a standalone bill.

[74] The Washington Post reported that "a coordinated effort" among House Republicans opposed to Jordan would "ensure that he loses more votes each round", which was indeed borne out on the second ballot.

[78] While initially opposed to the idea, Jordan, on October 19, announced that he would back a plan to temporarily expand the powers that McHenry has as Speaker pro tempore until January 3, 2024.

Later that day, however, he told reporters that there would not be a resolution to expand McHenry's powers,[79] after it became clear that most House Republicans would not support it[80] after a three hour closed-door meeting.

[88][89] Don Bacon said his wife received threatening messages, and Ferguson said credible threats prompted him to dispatch a sheriff to his daughter's school.

The motion was non-privileged and did not trigger an immediate vote, due to Greene's decision to introduce it through regular channels rather than on the floor.

Democratic leaders praised Johnson for his role in providing funding to the federal government and aid to Ukraine.

The vote to table was successful, meaning the motion to vacate was removed from consideration and Mike Johnson was allowed to remain as Speaker.