Washington | Republicans have nominated conservative Steve Scalise as Speaker of the House of Representatives after last week’s historic ousting of Kevin McCarthy, as the party races to determine a new leader to address urgent spending issues and the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Mr Scalise defeated challenger Jim Jordan 113 to 99 during a secret vote among Republicans behind closed doors on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT). Mr Jordan said he would now throw his support behind Mr Scalise to avoid further chaos around the Republican leadership position.