Over 24 hours after California Representative Kevin McCarthy was ousted as Speaker of the House, the country is asking one thing: what now?
As of now Head of the House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan of Ohio and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana are the only people who have announced their plans to run for Speaker.
Visiting professor at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute John Jackson called Scalise the more mainstream of the two.
"He is the first lieutenant or the whip currently for McCarthy, and they were very, very close. So all of those people that voted nay yesterday will likely be supporters of Steve Scalise."
Professor Jackson said the only concern with Scalise is his health after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, about a week ago.
On Jim Jordan, Professor Jackson called him a bomb thrower and said he's been highly identified with the extremist faction of his party.
"He's basically an anarchist who tries to keep the pot boiling all the time. And so he would kind of be more of the same in terms of letting the very hard right run the show."
The only other possible scenario that Professor Jackson can see happening is Republicans and Democrats working together and picking a Speaker that would benefit both sides.
Until a Speaker is chosen, the House is in recess and we inch closer to the government shut down in November.
