We're pausing our live coverage. Here's where things stand.

• This morning, Republicans voted behind closed doors to nominate Steve Scalise, a congressman from Lousiana, to be the next Speaker over competitor Jim Jordan
• It now goes to the House floor for a full vote
• As the minority party, Democrats will likely back their own candidate, Hakeem Jeffries
• Republicans have the majority in the House, but only a slim one, so Scalise can only afford to lose around five Republican votes
• The House went into recess this afternoon - giving Scalise and his team time to gather the votes needed to secure the Speakership
• It's unclear when the vote for Speaker will be held - it's still possible it will come tonight

In the meantime, don't miss our latest coverage on Congress.

• Narrow Scalise victory shows divisions
• Kevin McCarthy's replacement will inherit a poisoned chalice
• Top Republican Steve Scalise has rare cancer

Image source, Getty Images

We're just heard from controversial Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert.

She didn't provide any information about when a vote will take place, saying only that she doesn't think it "should" happen today.

Boebert did say, however, that she does not intend to vote for Scalise.

Instead, she said she'd "throw down" for Chip Roy from Texas, although she still ultimately supports Jim Jordan.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

Kevin McCarthy’s election as speaker of the House in January was the culmination of months of effort, begun in earnest once it became clear that Republicans would control the chamber after the midterm elections in November.

And it still took 15 ballots and three days to garner the necessary Republican votes.

Now, just over a week after the House was thrown into turmoil with McCarthy’s ouster, Steve Scalise – the man narrowly chosen by a majority of House Republicans to be their new Speaker candidate – has to figure out how to solve the same numbers challenge his predecessor faced.

McCarthy ultimately succeeded by wrangling, arm-twisting and cajoling. He won over hard-liner Marjorie Taylor Greene – one of the most vocal new members of Congress - by boosting her access and influence with the party’s leadership. To others, like Chip Roy of Texas and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, he promised changes to House procedure. For some final holdouts, like Matt Gaetz of Florida, he offered the one-vote means to unseat him – a promise that ultimately led to his undoing.

Scalise doesn’t have the luxury of time that McCarthy enjoyed to craft a web of deals to lock down votes, but the figures demanding consideration and concession are the same.

He’s essentially performing a high-wire act without a net – building a coalition on the fly, as the House remains frozen and pressing concerns – like aid to Ukraine and Israel, as well as avoiding a government shutdown – only become more urgent.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
BBC News, on Capitol Hill

We still don't know when the floor vote for Speaker will happen, but we are hearing a bit about a growing opposition to Steve Scalise.

We just spoke to Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, who said he is a "hard no" on Scalise, at least in the initial vote, because of disagreements on how the budget should be handled.

Massie claims he's not alone - that there are at least 20 other Republicans who he believes would vote against Scalise.

Scalise, as a reminder, cannot afford to lose more than five Republican votes if he hopes to become Speaker.

Asked if he had any indication when a vote might take place, Massie answered simply: "I have no idea".

Bernd Debusmann Jr
BBC News, on Capitol Hill

I'm in the viewing gallery at the House of Representatives - which was called into recess moments ago at 3:03 PM local time.

Ahead of the recess, Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry left reporters with few answers in the Capitol hallway, mostly replying "we'll see" when asked when the vote would take place.

In his remarks, McHenry said that the nominee for Speaker "has the right to put his votes together for the floor and make sure the timing is right... we're going to let that happen".

Asked whether nominee Steve Scalise is waiting because he doesn't have enough votes, McHenry said that we are "in an unprecedented moment" and the recess was a planned procedural move.

We still have no idea when the Speaker vote will take place - or whether it will take place today.

Gary O'Donoghue
Washington Correspondent

So the Republicans have a nominee for Speaker. But Steve Scalise's victory was hardly a resounding one - just fourteen more votes than his opponent Jim Jordan, and no gaurantee he will be elected to the post.

It appears Jordan will now back Scalise, but that does not mean his 99 supporters will follow suit.

Indeed some have already said they won't, and should just a handful of Republicans hold out against Scalise, the nominee would be short of the requisite numbers needed to become Speaker.

Once again the House would be plunged into repeated floor votes like those we saw back in January when it took 15 rounds to elect Kevin McCarthy.

That's why recessing now, and delaying the floor vote, may well be a tactic to buy time to try and wrangle Republicans who are not yet backing Scalise.

In the meantime, House business is stalled. That means that Congress can't vote on funding for Israel, Ukraine or anything else until Republicans sort themselves out.

Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry has quickly called a recess for the House. There will be no vote for Speaker at this time.

We're still waiting to learn if they will come back for a vote tonight or if they will recess until tomorrow.

The House is now in session.

We wait to find out if they will move to vote for Speaker or recess instead.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
BBC News, on Capitol Hill

One reason for a possible delay comes from the uncertainty about whether Steve Scalise has enough votes to secure the Speakership. He and his team may need more time to rally support.

Several lawmakers have told reporters they aren't sure how the final Speaker vote will go.

Among them is Texas representative Troy Nehls, who just told us he voted for Jim Jordan in the vote this morning.

"That's what Donald Trump wanted," he said. The former president endorsed Jordan for speaker last week.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
BBC News, on Capitol Hill

It's still unclear what will happen next.

Earlier, we heard from several representatives that a move to call for a floor vote on the next Speaker could come as early as 3 PM.

If that’s the case, it’s possible we’d have a new Speaker of the House by the end of the day if Steve Scalise has enough votes - although that’s by no means certain.

Now, we’re hearing that they may recess as soon as they come back. If that happens, a vote will happen later, or possibly not today at all.

Stay with us for more updates.

We are just learning from US media outlets the House will not vote to elect a Speaker today. They will take to the floor only to recess for the day.

We will bring the details as soon as we have the official confirmation.

Steve Scalise has secured the Republican nomination for Speaker, but he's no shoo-in. Here's what will happen next.

• Members of the House of Representatives will convene on the House floor for an official vote for Speaker at the top of this hour, at 15:00 local time
• A representative will introduce a motion to vote for Speaker, and Scalise will be officially nominated
• Members of Congress can nominate others - for example, the Democrats are expected to nominate their own minority leader Hakeem Jeffries
• Dissenting Republicans will have the chance to nominate someone other than Scalise
• Voting begins - Scalise must secure 217 votes (out of the 221 Republicans) before he becomes Speaker

• If Scalise doesn't get the majority of the votes in the first count, the process will be repeated
• Voting took a record of 15 rounds over three days to elect Kevin McCarthy as Speaker in January

Stay tuned.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
BBC News, on Capitol Hill

Image source, Getty Images

Steve Scalise, the new Republican nominee to be House Speaker, has just spoken to the press ahead of the full House vote.

“First I want to thank my House Republican colleagues for designating me as the speaker. Obviously we still have work to do. We’re going to have to go upstairs on the House floor and resolve this and then get the House open again,” Scalise said, admitting the challenge ahead of securing 217 votes.

Scalise said that filling the Speaker role was vital in an increasingly "dangerous world".

"We need to make sure we're sending a message... that the House is open".

Reiterating what he said this morning, Scalise said that his first resolution "would be to make it clear we stand with Israel".

"There's more work to do," he added, before listing a litany of issues he hopes to address if he wins the Speakership, including the economy.

He added that if elected Speaker, he hopes to soon have a meeting with President Joe Biden to discuss the US-Mexico border.

"We cannot have an insecure border," he said. "It's time we sit down and have a conversation".

Scalise ignored several questions from reporters on whether he has the votes necessary to win on the floor.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
BBC News, on Capitol Hill

We've just heard from two of the eight Republicans who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy last week.

One of them, Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, told reporters "long live Speaker Scalise" as he emerged from the meeting.

A second Republican who voted against McCarthy, Tennessee's Tim Burchett, also said he'd support Scalise.

On Tuesday, South Carolina's Nancy Mace - another of the eight - said the same.

"It's what the American people need, and it's what the American people deserve," she told reporters on Tuesday night.

But there are still 99 Republicans who voted for competitor Jim Jordan. We will have to wait to see if any of them decide to hold back their vote from Scalise.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
BBC News, on Capitol Hill

Multiple lawmakers have said that a House floor vote is expected at 3pm local time (19:00 GMT).

Bernd Debusmann Jr
BBC News, on Capitol Hill

Earlier today, I spoke to the Louisiana Republican - and now Speaker candidate - Steve Scalise as he headed into the closed door meeting with his fellow Republican representatives.

Speaking to reporters in the hallway near the meeting, Scalise sounded confident.

"We're going to get this done," he said.

Scalise added that his first order of business as Speaker of the House - one of the most powerful positions in US politics - would be to issue a "strong resolution" supporting Israel amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas.

Currently the House Republican Whip, Scalise is considered a party "insider" who has risen through the ranks of the party through shrewd political maneuvering and a useful ability to effectively whip up votes.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

Steve Scalise is the Republican pick for speaker of the House, but the narrowness of his victory – 113-99 – highlights the divisions within the party in Congress lower chamber.

Scalise was much more the traditional candidate in this race. He worked his way up through the party’s leadership, built a reputation as a formidable fundraiser and tried to build connections to the party’s full range of interest groups and constituencies.

Jim Jordan was the outsider, who rose to fame with conservative television appearances, bombastic rhetoric and confrontational speeches in committee hearings.

Jordan was also endorsed by Trump, which in the end wasn’t enough to put him over the top. That suggests that, when the doors are closed and the ballots are secret, the former president’s influence within the party – at least in the House of Representatives – isn’t as strong as his polling popularity might indicate.

Scalise’s work is far from done, however. Now he has to make sure at least 217 of the 221 Republicans back him when the full House convenes to vote on speaker. The narrowness of the Republican majority was former speaker Kevin McCarthy’s undoing. Scalise will have to demonstrate a political deftness if he wants to avoid a similar fate.

Image source, Getty Images

Republicans have nominated Steve Scalise to be the next Speaker but he must still win approval from the majority of the House of Representatives before he can claim the post.

The vote was 113-99 in his favour among the Republicans and a few lawmakers have already told US media outlets they intend to vote for his opponent Jim Jordan on the floor.

So it's clear that the battle is not over yet.

We've just learned that Steve Scalise, congressman from Louisiana, has emerged victorious from the vote.

He will now be the Republican nominee to be the next Speaker of the House.