House Republicans are scrambling to coalesce around a small number of candidates to be Speaker of the House but the path to electing someone is unclear.
More than two dozen people, including two current senior officials, received security clearances after their initial denials were overturned by other top officials.
An outside group supporting House Democrats is running a digital ad that uses a strategy the party used in 2006 to challenge Republican control of the House — focusing on personal scandals.
The Ohio congressman and Freedom Caucus member announced Thursday that he will challenge the expected bid by Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is current speaker Paul Ryan's hand-picked successor.
Top House GOP leaders, who frequently clash with Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, stood by him as he fights allegations he ignored sexual abuse reports when he coached wrestling at the Ohio State University.
A spokesman for the Republican congressman says he "never saw any abuse, never heard about any abuse, and never had any abuse reported to him" when he was an assistant coach of the wrestling team.