After Representative Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, failed in his bid for the position of Speaker of the House, a new generation of candidates has entered the race.

Nine Republican representatives have announced their intention to run for the top position at the conference before the Sunday deadline: Jack Bergman from Michigan, Byron Donalds from Florida, Tom Emmer from Minnesota, Kevin Hern from Oklahoma, Mike Johnson from Louisiana, Dan Meuser from Pennsylvania, Gary Palmer from Alabama, Austin Scott from Georgia, and Pete Sessions from Texas.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was removed from the position of speaker earlier this month after an uprising by far-right members of his own party. This unprecedented move left the House of Representatives without a replacement, plunging the lower chamber into legislative paralysis with no clear path forward.

As demonstrated by McCarthy's removal and the two unsuccessful bids for the gavel that followed, the Republican conference in the House of Representatives remains deeply divided. In all three rounds of voting to elect a House member, Jordan's Republican opponents voted against the far-right Ohio resident. Before him, Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise failed to garner sufficient support.

4 Takeaways From the Historic Ousting of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy POLITICS 4 Takeaways From the Historic Ousting of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy On Monday, a candidates' forum will be held, and the vote to narrow down the list of candidates is scheduled for Tuesday.

This time, a new tool has been added to ensure that the appointed speaker, the candidate elected by the House Republican Conference, can secure 217 "yes" votes in the House of Representatives—a stage where previous candidates faltered. Republicans currently have 221 members in the House; Democrats have 212.

Representative Mike Flood of Nebraska introduced a "unity pledge" on Friday, which requires Republicans to commit to "support the Republican Conference's nominee for Speaker of the House, regardless of who that candidate may be, when their election goes to the House floor."

"I call on all of my colleagues to join this pledge so that we can move forward in selecting a speaker and get on with the people's business," Flood said in his statement.

Most speaker candidates have expressed support for this pledge, and at least six of them have signed the commitment.