U.S. Republicans were inching Tuesday toward finally appointing a new speaker of the House of Representatives, with support coalescing around a fierce Donald Trump partisan to fill a void that has paralyzed Congress for weeks at a time of domestic and international tension.
The internal squabbling in the Republican party has effectively shut down the House and made passing any measures in Congress impossible.
A vote was scheduled Tuesday on whether to hand the position — also second in line to the U.S. presidency after the vice president — to Representative Jim Jordan, a hard-right firebrand who stands out for his loyalty to scandal-engulfed Trump.
However, Republicans have only a razor-thin majority in the House and Jordan is certain to get no Democratic support, meaning his party would have to set aside its bitter infighting to get him across the line with a near-unanimous vote.
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