House speaker hours after GOP nomination
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Tom Emmer abruptly abandoned his bid to become House Speaker Tuesday, withdrawing hours after winning the internal party nomination once it became clear he would not have enough support from GOP colleagues for the gavel.
Emmer, the GOP Whip, reversed course after Donald Trump objected to his nomination and hardliners in the House Speaker denied the party leader the votes he would need.
He is the third Republican to fall short, leaving dejected Republicans no closer to resolving the chaos they have created since ousting Kevin McCarthy at the start of the month.
Emmer briskly left the building where he had been meeting privately with Republicans and hopped into a waiting SUV. He said nothing in response to shouted questions as they drove off from the Capitol complex.
Trump, speaking as he left the courtroom in New York where he faces business fraud charges, said his “un-endorsement” must have had an impact on Emmer’s bid.
“He wasn’t MAGA,” said Trump, the party’s front-runner for the 2024 presidential election, referring to his Make America Great Again campaign slogan.
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The Republicans are currently making a valiant effort to put an end to the acrimonious infighting and select a new speaker who can legitimately unite the GOP majority, lead the party, and get the U.S. Congress operating again after three weeks of chaos in the House.
They were ready to go back into private, where they had spent much of their time attempting to come to a consensus about a new leader.
The focus soon shifted to Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a member of the House Speaker GOP leadership with a lower ranking who received the second-highest number of votes on Tuesday’s internal ballots. As a constitutional lawyer, he has mobilized Republicans in support of Trump’s lawsuit to nullify the results of the 2020 election.
“We’re in the same cul-de-sac,” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., the chairman of the far-right House Speaker Freedom Caucus.
Emmer of Minnesota, who is the party’s third-ranking Republican as the GOP whip, had jumped out in front during private morning balloting among a hodgepodge list of mostly lesser-known congressmen aspiring to be speaker, a powerful position second in line to the presidency.
But no sooner did Emmer win the majority vote of his colleagues than his nomination was shot down by a powerful detractor he had tried to win over — Trump, who has long criticized the party’s former campaign chief as disloyal.
While Emmer won a simple majority in a roll call behind closed doors — 117 votes — he lost more than two dozen Republicans, leaving him far short of what will be needed during a House Speaker floor tally ahead.
In a manner akin to a reversal of events, the Trump-Emmer conflict had been simmering since January, when the previous president’s supporters attempted to obstruct Emmer’s ascent to the position of GOP whip.
Representative Jim Banks, R-Ind., who had opposed Emmer at the beginning of the year, stated, “He doesn’t have the support in the room right now.” “From here, we’ll see where we go.”
Johnson, who faced Emmer head-to-head in the fifth round of voting, finished a solid second with 97 votes. Then, declaring, “What we have to do in this room is unite and begin to govern again,” he vowed to stand by Emmer.
Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, a close Trump buddy, and Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, the owner of a McDonald’s restaurant and a conservative leader who begged for support from his colleagues by bringing hamburgers to their office, were among those who were ousted over numerous voting rounds. Representatives Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, Pete Sessions of Texas, Austin Scott of Georgia, Jack Bergman of Michigan, Gary Palmer of Alabama, and Pete Sessions of Texas also withdrew.
There isn’t a clear front-runner for the position now that the top successors, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Trump-backed Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, were denied.
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With Republicans outnumbering Democrats 221-212 in the House, any nominee from the GOP can afford a few critics to secure the gavel.
“By the time we have a winner, it will be another close race,” said Republican Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota. “I believe that the winner should remain in the room and assess their current situation and potential for improvement.”
Republicans have been flailing all month, unable to conduct routine business as they fight amongst themselves with daunting challenges ahead.
If Congress cannot approve budgetary legislation by the deadline of November 17 in order to keep government operations and services operating, the federal government faces a shutdown in a few weeks. In the near future, President Joe Biden has asked Congress for $105 billion in help to fortify the U.S. border with Mexico and to support Israel and Ukraine throughout their conflicts. If nothing is done, federal programs related to agriculture and aviation are ready to expire.
In the days preceding the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, the majority of individuals vying for speaker were conservatives and election deniers who either voted against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Biden defeated Trump, or joined a later lawsuit contesting the results.
Some Democrats had eyed Emmer, who had voted to certify the 2020 election results, as a potential partner in governing the House.
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But Trump allies, including the influential hard-right instigator Steve Bannon, have been critical of Emmer. Some point to his support of a same-sex marriage initiative and perceived criticisms of the former president. Among the far-right groups pressuring lawmakers over the speaker’s vote, some quickly attacked Emmer.
Republican Representative Rick Allen of Georgia stated, “That’s a very divisive issue,” adding that he would never vote for Emmer due to his voting history on marriage.
Hard-right Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida, who helped arrange McCarthy’s removal from office, has stated that Hern, Donalds, or Johnson, among the other candidates, would make “phenomenal” selections for speaker.
Nevertheless, Gaetz voted for Emmer, though others who joined in ousting McCarthy did not.
Numerous opponents of Emmer were opposing a leader who had voted in favor of the budget agreement that McCarthy and Biden had reached earlier in the year, which established federal spending caps that far-right Republicans now seek to reverse. With the funding deadline coming up in a month, they are aiming for deeper reductions to federal programs and services.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said she wanted assurances the candidates would pursue impeachment inquiries into Biden and other top Cabinet officials.
The Financial Services Committee chairman and nominal speaker pro tempore of the House Speaker during the unrest is Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., who wears a bow tie. Selecting a more permanent speaker is his primary responsibility.
A few Republicans and Democrats prefer to grant McHenry additional authority so that he may continue with the daily tasks of running the government. However, McHenry, the first person to occupy the emergency position formed in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, has refused to support those overtures.
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