Emmer drops speaker bid after securing nomination
WASHINGTON — House Majority Whip
Tom Emmer ended his bid to become speaker just a hours after receiving the conference’s backing amid opposition from allies of former President Donald Trump and supporters of the conference’s last pick for the role, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan.
Emmer, R-minn., was selected by the conference on the fifth ballot Tuesday in a 117-97 vote over Louisiana’s Mike Johnson, the conference’s vice chairman.
However, shortly after securing the conference’s backing, 25 members of the conference either said they would not vote for Emmer on the floor, or voted “present,” during an internal roll call vote following his win.
That number increased throughout the day, and Emmer told the conference during a 4 p.m. meeting that he would no longer be pursuing the speakership.
One of the members standing in his way was Emmer’s former rival for the whip job, Indiana’s Jim Banks.
“The left flank of our conference blocked Speaker-designee Jim Jordan then nominated the single most liberal member of leadership to continue business as usual in Washington,” Banks said in a Tuesday statement. “They are holding our conference hostage and pushing Republicans to betray our voters and abandon our promises to the American people.”
And that was before Trump released a blistering statement on his social media platform, Truth Social, encouraging his supporters to vote against Emmer.
“Voting for a globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!” Trump posted.
It appeared Trump’s statement — and the wider feeling of the tide turning against Emmer Tuesday — had an effect. Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Matt Rosendale of Montana both supported Emmer during the internal midday roll call according to a list provided by a GOP aide, but later changed their tune.
“Rep Emmer does not have votes to be speaker and I will be unable to support him on the floor,” Luna said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Emmer allies had highlighted his experience as whip and running the party’s campaign arm during his speaker campaign, arguing he had connections across the conference and could unify during a perilous time.
Rep. Mario Diaz-balart, R-fla., praised Emmer Tuesday as “tough” and “smart as heck” and said that if Emmer couldn’t reach 217, the path forward for Republicans is scary.
“It’s getting to the point that if you can’t get Emmer, who has the relationships, the respect, who’s been elected by the conference before, if we can’t get… this done, then it starts getting kind of frightening,” he said.
It’s been three weeks since former Speaker Kevin Mccarthy, R-calif., lost his job when eight Republicans joined with Democrats to vacate the speakership. The party will now look for its fourth speaker designate since Mccarthy had been removed, with Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-LA; Jordan and Emmer all unable to attain the 217 votes needed to win the gavel.
Johnson would be an early leader in the next iteration of the conference’s internal selection process. Republican Study Committee chairman Kevin Hern of Oklahoma and Florida’s Byron Donalds were the next two highest vote-getters on Tuesday.
Hern is back in the race after Emmer’s dropout, according to a source familiar.
Other candidates during round three of the party’s speakership circus were Austin Scott, R-GA., Jack Bergman, R-michigan and Pete Sessions, R-texas.