House Republicans had their cell phones confiscated while they voted on a new speaker

• House Republicans voted on Wednesday to nominate Rep. Steve Scalise to be the next speaker.
• They were forbidden from having their phones during the vote and had to turn them over to staff.
• As they left, lawmakers had to wave pieces of paper with numbers on them to get their phones back.

House Republicans’ cell phones were confiscated as they decided on who should be second in line to the presidency.

During a conference meeting on Wednesday overseen by current House Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, Republicans nominated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise to be their party’s choice for speaker of the House. The vote comes after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was suddenly ousted last week.

Scalise defeated Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who had received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, by a 113-99 vote.

In an effort to maintain secrecy and prevent information from getting out before the vote had concluded, lawmakers were forced to hand off their cell phones to staffers, who placed each phone in an envelope and gave each lawmaker a note card with a number.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said she was “happy with” the decision, saying it would cut down on “live tweeting of what’s being said in our conference meetings.”

“Not of fan of snitches,” she said.

The envelopes containing lawmakers’ phones were later seen sitting in a pair of bins outside the hearing room where the meeting took place. 

Later on, staffers began organizing the phones into a cubby shelf.

Once the meeting was over, lawmakers were forced to wait in long lines as they presented their respective note cards to staff.

The House is set to begin voting on a new speaker at 3pm Wednesday, and it remains unclear how long that will take.

Some supporters of Jordan have said they will continue to nominate and vote for him on the floor, signally a potentially protracted speaker’s race similar to the 15 rounds of voting that took place in January.

• House Republicans voted on Wednesday to nominate Rep. Steve Scalise to be the next speaker.
• They were forbidden from having their phones during the vote and had to turn them over to staff.
• As they left, lawmakers had to wave pieces of paper with numbers on them to get their phones back.

House Republicans’ cell phones were confiscated as they decided on who should be second in line to the presidency.

During a conference meeting on Wednesday overseen by current House Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, Republicans nominated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise to be their party’s choice for speaker of the House. The vote comes after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was suddenly ousted last week.

Scalise defeated Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who had received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, by a 113-99 vote.

In an effort to maintain secrecy and prevent information from getting out before the vote had concluded, lawmakers were forced to hand off their cell phones to staffers, who placed each phone in an envelope and gave each lawmaker a note card with a number.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said she was “happy with” the decision, saying it would cut down on “live tweeting of what’s being said in our conference meetings.”

“Not of fan of snitches,” she said.

The envelopes containing lawmakers’ phones were later seen sitting in a pair of bins outside the hearing room where the meeting took place. 

Later on, staffers began organizing the phones into a cubby shelf.

Once the meeting was over, lawmakers were forced to wait in long lines as they presented their respective note cards to staff.

The House is set to begin voting on a new speaker at 3pm Wednesday, and it remains unclear how long that will take.

Some supporters of Jordan have said they will continue to nominate and vote for him on the floor, signally a potentially protracted speaker’s race similar to the 15 rounds of voting that took place in January.