Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) has dropped out of the running to become Speaker of the House roughly four hours after receiving the party’s nomination on Tuesday. Emmer’s withdrawal came after a scathing critique by former President Trump and a lack of support from two dozen Republican holdouts.
After several hours of negotiations, Emmer was reportedly seen briskly walking out of a GOP meeting on Tuesday, followed shortly by the announcement that he was withdrawing from the running. As Valuetainment reported just this afternoon, Emmer won five successive secret ballots during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning, becoming the third Speaker nominee in as many weeks.
With a narrow Republican majority in the House (221-212), Emmer needed almost the entirety of his party to support him in order to secure the required 217 votes.
Emmer was preceded as the nominee by Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan. Scalise, like Emmer, withdrew before making it to a floor vote. Jordan failed to secure a majority in three votes last week, losing additional support each time.
In the case of all three candidates, the Republican Party was split by holdouts and hardliners taking a stand against the nominations.
For Emmer, objections were raised based on his establishment ties, his support for same-sex marriage bills, his proposal to eliminate the Electoral College, and his vote to certify Joe Biden’s election in 2020.
He was also criticized by former President Trump, who took to Truth Social to denounce Emmer as a “RINO.”
With the House of Representatives approaching four weeks without a Speaker, the Republicans are now considering options like Reps. Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Kevin Hern (R-OK), both of whom ran against Emmer in Tuesday’s balloting.
Another candidate forum has been scheduled for 6 p.m. ET. This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates.
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