Washington (AP) — Republicans picked Rep. Tom Emmer as their nominee for House speaker Tuesday as they try again to fill the top position, but the choice quickly ran into familiar resistance from hard-liners and allies of Donald Trump leaving no guarantee the latest hopeful can win the gavel.
Three weeks after Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy in a historic first, they appear no closer to choosing a new speaker who can credibly unite the GOP majority, lead the party and reopen the House, according to report by the Associated Press.
As the GOP Whip, Emmer of Minnesota jumped out front during private balloting among a hodge-podge list of mostly lesser-known congressmen for speaker, a powerful position second in line to the presidency. While he won a simple majority, he lost more than two dozen Republicans, far short of what will be needed during a House floor vote ahead.
“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 House has been in turmoil since a contingent of hard-line Republicans ousted McCarthy, creating what’s now a governing crisis that’s preventing the normal operations of Congress. There appears to be no resolution within reach.
Emmer, a lawyer, is the third-ranking House Republican, but he has a rocky relationship with Trump that quickly threatened his nomination. Known as a gruff hockey coach, Emmer had reached out to the former president over the weekend for backing, only to be derided as Trump said he was talking to a lot of candidates about the job.
Coming in a steady second was constitutional law expert Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, who directly battled Emmer in the fifth-round private ballot.
Others were eliminated and dropped out, including Rep. Byron Donalds, a top Trump ally, and McDonald’s franchise owner Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, a conservative leader, who plied his colleagues with hamburgers seeking their support.
Also withdrawing from the race were Reps. Austin Scott of Georgia, Jack Bergman of Michigan, Pete Sessions of Texas, Gary Palmer of Alabama and Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania.
Having rejected the top replacements, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, there is no longer any obvious choice for the job.
After Emmer emerged in the private balloting, Republicans held a roll call behind closed doors to try to unify, as their party rules require them to fall in line behind the nominee, but still fell far short of what he’ll need in the full House vote. With Republicans controlling the House 221-212 over Democrats, any GOP nominee can afford just a few detractors.
“It’s going to be another close race by the time we get to one,” said Rep, Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D. “I think it would behoove whoever wins this to stay in the room and figure where they are at and whether they can get there.”
Republicans have been flailing all month, unable to conduct routine business as they fight amongst themselves leaving daunting challenges ahead.
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 were mostly conservatives and election deniers, who either voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results, when Biden defeated Trump, in the runup to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, or joined a subsequent lawsuit challenging the results.
Some Democrats have eyed Emmer, the third-ranking House GOP leader, who had voted to certify the 2020 election results as a potential partner in governing the House.
But Trump allies and other hard-liners have been critical of Emmer over 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 are now attacking Emmer.
“That’s a very divisive issue,” said Republican Rep. Rick Allen of Georgia, saying he could never vote for Emmer after the vote on same-sex marriage.
Trump downplayed, even derided, Emmer, with whom he has had a rocky relationship, while presenting himself Monday as a kingmaker who talks to “a lot of congressmen” seeking his stamp of approval.
Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, the hard-right leader who engineered McCarthy’s ouster, has said several of those who were running — Hern, Donalds or Johnson would make a “phenomenal” choice for speaker.
What Gaetz and other hard-liners are resisting is a leader who joined in voting for the budget deal that McCarthy struck with Biden earlier this year, which set federal spending levels that the far-right Republicans don’t agree with and now want to undo. They are pursuing steeper cuts to federal programs and services with next month’s funding deadline.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she wanted assurances the candidates would pursue impeachment inquiries into Biden and other top Cabinet officials.
During the turmoil, the House is now led by a nominal interim speaker pro tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., the bow tie-wearing chairman of the Financial Services Committee whose main job is to elect a more permanent speaker.
Some Republicans — and Democrats — would like to simply give McHenry more power to get on with the routine business of governing. But McHenry, the first person to be in the position that was created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks as an emergency measure, has declined to back those overtures.
