House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Meanwhile, House Democrats are making it clear their only vote will be for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.  

Following the vote, acting House Speaker Patrick McHenry said the chamber is recessing to give Scalise time to assemble the votes he needs. The Republicans' slim majority—221 seats to the Democrats' 212—leaves little room for disunity. Scalise needs 217 votes to become Speaker.

The House of Representatives recently took 15 rounds of voting to elect the previous Speaker. If the election process is prolonged and deadlocked, the  House will continue to be paralyzed and unable to ratify the government's operating budget in the new fiscal year.