Three weeks after Kevin McCarthy‘s historic ouster, Republicans are still far from electing a new speaker. The House GOP nominated Rep. Mike Johnson as their latest speaker candidate on Tuesday night, but the Louisiana Republican does not yet have the 217 votes required to take the gavel.
The Republicans had voted to nominate Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer as speaker nominee, but Emmer withdrew from the race mere hours later due to strong opposition from the conference’s extreme wing and a sharp reprimand from former President Donald Trump. This turbulent day culminated with the vote for Johnson.
After 128 votes in the last round of secret ballot voting, Johnson was chosen as the speaker nominee. McCarthy’s 43 votes were the next-highest total, and some House Republicans are holding the Republican from California accountable for undermining Johnson’s rise. In an attempt to break the deadlock over speakership, several members proposed pairing up with Ohio Representative Jim Jordan as his “assistant speaker” before Tuesday night’s voting, CNN was informed by sources.
However, late Tuesday night, Johnson overcame a crucial retest vote, which was good news for his campaign. He also declared that the House as a whole would vote on a speaker at noon on Wednesday.
As the House continues to be paralyzed and the GOP is unable to govern without a speaker, pressure on Republicans to choose a new leader is growing. Deep divisions within the conference have prevented it from uniting around a replacement for McCarthy on multiple occasions. This includes Jordan, who was removed from consideration as the party’s choice on Friday following three fruitless rounds on the House floor.
With no certainty that any Republican can secure the 217 votes necessary to take the majority, the politically unstable position has sent the House into unprecedented territory.
Emmer is now the third Republican to secure the GOP conference’s nomination but subsequently withdraw from the contest due to his inability to secure the required number of votes to win the gavel.
Following his victory on Tuesday in a secret ballot poll for the party candidacy, Emmer was met with immediate resistance from the right wing of his conference and sharp criticism from former President Donald Trump.
Trump referred to Emmer as a “Globalist RINO” and stated that supporting him “would be a tragic mistake” in a post on Truth Social. Trump subsequently claimed that when Emmer left, he had a “big impact.”
Voting on topics that members of the hard right had highlighted as reasons for his campaign, Emmer supported the bipartisan bill to prevent a debt default, voted to certify the 2020 election, voted to keep the government open for 47 days, and voted to codify same-sex marriage.
Additionally, according to two people who spoke with CNN, Trump’s staff called GOP lawmakers and persuaded them to oppose Emmer for speaker.
Even though Trump and the former president had a friendly phone conversation over the weekend, on Monday night he repeated criticisms of the House GOP whip on Truth Social and then launched his own attack after Emmer was selected.
When asked about Trump by CNN as he was leaving a GOP conference meeting on Monday night, Emmer replied, “We have a good relationship.”
Rep. Steve Womack, a Republican from Arkansas, issued a warning to the GOP after Emmer withdrew from the contest, stating that they are at an “impasse” and he doubts they will be able to work out their internal conflicts and select a speaker.
“Right now, I think it is apparent to the American people that the GOP conference is hopelessly divided. Can it be overcome? Never say never,” he said. “But the signs are right now that this conference is at some kind of an impasse.”
