Republicans Pick Tom Emmer As Their Nominee For Speaker As They Try For A Third Time To Fill The House’s Top Position
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three weeks now since the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, House Republicans are meeting privately Tuesday to try nominating a new House speaker to accomplish the seemingly impossible job of uniting a broken, bitter GOP majority and returning to the work of governing in Congress.
In early round ballots the senior-most lawmaker, Rep. Tom Emmer, the GOP Whip, jumped out front as the top vote-getter among the hodge-podge list of mostly lesser-known congressmen for speaker, a powerful position second in line to the presidency. But it’s no sure path to the gavel, where a majority vote will be needed by Republicans behind closed doors — and eventually in a House floor vote.
“We’re going to have to figure out how to get our act together — I mean, big boys and big girls have got to quit making excuses and we just got to get it done,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., a conservative caucus leader.
The candidate list, though quickly slimming, was long and jumbled with no obvious choice for the job. Emmer, of Minnesota, a lawyer, is known as a gruff hockey coach who reached out to Donald Trump for backing and was gaining on the first four ballots.
Coming in a steady second was constitutional law expert Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, who is now directly battling Emmer in the fifth-round private ballot.
Others, including Rep. Byron Donalds, a top Trump ally, have been dropping out. Donalds had been a steady third followed former McDonald’s franchise owner Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, a conservative leader, who plied his colleagues with hamburgers seeking their support but dropped out Tuesday.
Also withdrawing from the race: Reps. Austin Scott of Georgia, Jack Bergman of Michigan, Pete Sessions of Texas, Gary Palmer of Alabama and Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania.
The Republicans are moving quickly through first rounds, but planned to stay behind closed doors until they can agree on a nominee. Some have pushed for a signed pledge to abide by rules to support the majority winner, but holdouts remain. The plan is to hold a House floor vote later this week.
“I feel good, but it’s up to the members — it’s in their hands now,” said Donalds after a candidate forum late Monday evening.
The House has been in turmoil, without a speaker since the start of the month after a contingent of hardline Republicans ousted McCarthy, creating what’s now a governing crisis that’s preventing the normal operations of Congress.
The federal government risks a shutdown in a matter of weeks if Congress fails to pass funding legislation by a Nov. 17 deadline to keep services and offices running. More immediately, President Joe Biden has asked Congress to provide $105 billion in aid — to help Israel and Ukraine amid their wars and to shore up the U.S. border with Mexico. Federal aviation and farming programs face expiration without action.
Those running for speaker are mostly conservatives and election deniers, who either voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results, when Biden defeated Trump, in the run up to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, or joined a subsequent lawsuit challenging the results.
