Who leads the House now? The top Republicans who could be the next House speaker.

• Kevin McCarthy said he would not run for the House speakership again.
• House Republicans mostly left town as the chamber was thrown into chaos.

For the first time in American history, House lawmakers have ejected the Speaker of the House from power.

On Tuesday evening, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he would not run for the post again. House Republicans have now mostly left town as the party girds for the race to become McCarthy's successor. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise may have the early lead, but things are just getting started. It may be difficult for any candidate to get the necessary votes.

In the meantime, Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is acting Speaker pro tempore, a formal title that essentially means he can mostly lead the chamber through the period of historic chaos.

There's already some drama as Rep. Troy E. Nehls, a Texas Republican, has promised to nominate former President Donald Trump. While the Speaker of the House does not have to be a member of Congress, it is highly unlikely Trump would take the job. Nonetheless, it underlines the chaos that could come.

Some potential candidates are also focused on other roles. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer offered a quick endorsement for Scalise. Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik is reportedly eyeing an opportunity to move further up the leadership ladder.

Here's who reportedly could step up to lead the House:

Steve Scalise

Scalise is the No. 2 House Republican. He has served in House GOP leadership since 2014. A Louisiana Republican, Scalise returned to the House in 2017 after surviving gunshot wounds he sustained during a shooting at a Republican practice for the Congressional Baseball Game. Multiple news outlets have already reported that Scalise began reaching out to members after McCarthy announced he would not mount another campaign.

Politico previously reported that some conservatives were also concerned about Scalise's health. In August, Scalise said he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer.

Byron Donalds

Donalds' profile has skyrocketed for someone who is just a two-term congressman. The Florida Republican received a maximum of 20 votes in January during the 15 rounds of voting. His decision to flip to explicitly supporting McCarthy was a major moment for the eventual speaker. Publicly, he opposed Gaetz's ouster effort before the critical vote.

Donalds has said he is thinking of running for Florida governor in 2026 when Gov. Ron DeSantis would be term-limited out, provided DeSantis doesn't pull off a massive primary comeback and win the presidency. Donalds, who is not in House leadership, did not speak on the floor before the historic vote. Some lawmakers who are not House leadership did speak before the vote.

Jim Jordan

Try as he might, Jordan can't seem to shake Washington's fascination with his potential speakership. Jordan appears to have everything he ever wanted as chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee. The Ohio Republican is also a main figure in what McCarthy has unilaterally declared is an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Jordan did not immediately rule out running for speaker on Tuesday evening, an opening that the conservative had not previously offered before.

Kevin Hern

Rep. Kevin Hern, a three-term Oklahoman, leads the influential Republican Study Committee. Before Congress, he bought up McDonald's franchises and served in various leadership roles with the company. Like Donalds, Hern did receive some support during the chaotic January speakership race.

Not likely to happen

Donald Trump: Yes, you don't have to be a member of Congress to be Speaker of the House. And yes, Nehls has said he will nominate the former president. Still, it is very unlikely Trump wants this job. He already holds a gigantic lead to retake the GOP presidential nomination. There's simply no reason to think he would want this job.

A quasi-coalition government: There's a joke in Washington that people come to the Capitol hoping to find out it's like Aaron Sorkin's "West Wing" only to discover it's a mixture of Netflix's "House of Cards" and HBO's "VEEP." The truth always being, that only in Sorkin's fictional Washington do you get things like a liberal president nominating a conservative Supreme Court justice.

There's no reason to expect that both parties agree to some quasi-power-sharing arrangement that would be unprecedented in American history. We live in an age of hyper-partisanship. Republicans rightly feel they are entitled to the speakership after the 2022 midterm elections.

It seems unlikely they would forfeit those claims.