Republicans remain gridlocked over who to elect as next House Speaker and the chamber is still paralyzed despite Biden’s call on Congress to act NOW to help Israel

The House of Representatives is deadlocked as Republicans remain deadlocked on who to elect as their next Speaker, despite President Biden’s call to Congress to immediately aid Israel as they fight the terrorist organization Hamas.

Biden delivered a dramatic speech on Tuesday pledging to stand by Israel and denouncing the “unadulterated evil” of terrorist attacks that killed more than 1,000 people, including 14 Americans, over the weekend.

The president said he plans to ask Congress to quickly approve additional funding for the security of America’s allies, including Israel.

“When Congress returns, we will ask them to take urgent action to fund the national security requirements of our important partners,” Biden said. “This is not about party or politics. This is about the security of our world, the security of the United States of America.’

That question may prove more challenging than usual as the House of Representatives just ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a power vacuum remains. Infighting within the GOP could delay the process of confirming a new House leader for days.

And the Senate doesn’t return to DC until next week.

US President Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, makes remarks after a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the number two Republican in the House, is running for president

Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee, is running against Scalise for the speech

And the House cannot proceed with any legislation without a speaker present.

Earlier this week, Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry, RN.C., said the House would approve aid to Israel if needed — even without an elected speaker.

“If we have to act as a government, we will,” he told reporters.

Republicans are voting internally on Wednesday morning to promote Jim Jordan, who chairs the powerful House Judiciary Committee, or Steve Scalise, the number two House Republican, to the top leadership post.

McCarthy’s internal GOP foes — the eight who voted to oust him last week — have been largely silent on who they will vote for during the fiery speaker battle.

Reps. Nancy Mace and Bob Good told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that they will support dark horse Jim Jordan over incumbent Scalise.

On Tuesday night, Republicans heard from both Scalise and Jordan during a question-and-answer forum.

Whichever candidate wins the majority in the convention must then oppose the Democratic nominee, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, on the floor of the House to be elected president.

With only a four-vote majority, Republicans must be nearly unanimous to advance their nominee to the House.

Rep. Greg Murphy, RN.C., also left the meeting unsure that the House would get a speaker on Wednesday. “It will take more than a day to do that.”

But Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., one of eight Republicans who voted with McCarthy to oust Democrats last week, had a more optimistic outlook.

“I think so,” he told DailyMail.com when asked if he thought either candidate could get a majority on the floor of the House tomorrow. He declined to say who he supports.

Scalise, who is battling blood cancer in addition to running for speaker, left the meeting and said he appeared as a “unifier” at the conference. “People want to see us get back on track,” he said.

Scalise, as a current member of the GOP leadership team, has seemingly garnered more traction among establishment Republicans, while Jordan is popular on the right wing of the convention.

A sizable number of Jordan’s supporters have not committed to supporting Scalise if he ends up being the top vote-getter at the convention.

Rep. Dan Bishop, a McCarthy foe who threatened to support his ouster but ultimately did not, now supports Jordan. He didn’t rule out supporting Scalise, but said he didn’t think the majority leader had a “crystal clear plan” to lead the conference into a tough spending battle.

“Some of my concerns with Scalise are so obvious that I’m not going to say it,” Bishop told DailyMail.com. “But do we really think this institution is working so well that we should just move up the next one?”

“If you think that Congress and the Republicans in Congress have done a fantastic job over 20 years, then it would make sense,” Bishop said. “If you think there are shortages, then maybe not.”

Both Scalise and Jordan have admitted they will have to file a continuing resolution (CR) — a bill to extend state funding to 2023 levels and avert a government shutdown while scrapping a longer-term spending plan.

CRs are widely disliked – particularly by the right wing and it was what prompted McCarthy’s ouster.

Kevin McCarthy told allies not to nominate him for the speech

But an emerging consensus among Republicans was that they wanted to fix the lack of transparency and honesty they found under McCarthy’s leadership.

“We’ve heard nothing but backroom deals and promises made then supposedly broken,” said Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla. He said Jordan was the only candidate who said he wouldn’t keep any backroom promises.

He also predicted that the speaker’s race could last indefinitely.

“I don’t know if by the end of tomorrow we’ll have a speaker – I don’t know if by the end of the week we’ll have a speaker,” he told reporters. “I just don’t think there’s a candidate right now that has the lion’s share of support.”

And without an elected Speaker of the House, the lower house cannot move on to other legislative priorities — namely passing spending legislation to avert a government shutdown next month and helping to replenish Israel’s defense capabilities amid attacks from Hamas.