In the three weeks without a speaker following the historic vote to oust Rep. McCarthy, the House of Representatives has received its third formal nomination.
Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota is the latest to try and secure the 217 votes necessary to become speaker of the House.
On Oct. 11, Majority Leader Steve Scalise was selected by the Republican conference after one week of campaigning, receiving the first nomination. He defeated Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary committee. However, just one day after winning the nomination, Scalise withdrew his candidacy. He told reporters that "there are still schisms that have to get resolved," referring to the Republican party’s difficulty in rallying behind his nomination.
Republicans then selected Jordan by secret ballot in a closed-door Friday meeting as their second nominee for House speaker.
However, this is when things took a turn. Jordan failed to secure three separate votes from Oct. 17-20. He was unable to retain voters and lost republican support at every turn.
After voting to remove him from official nomination, Republicans met for a candidate forum, where the contenders made their pitch to their colleagues on why they should be nominated for speaker.
There were 9 in total:
● Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan
● Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida
● Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota
● Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma
● Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana
● Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania
● Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama
● Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia
● Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas
In the fifth and final round of voting, Emmer won over Johnson, 117-97.
But the gridlock isn’t over yet.
Just hours after accepting the nomination on Tuesday afternoon, Emmer dropped the House Speaker bid. This withdrawal comes after a contingent of Republicans made clear they would not back him on the House floor, all but confirming that he would never get enough votes to win the position.
It also came after former President Trump released a scathing statement calling Emmer a “RINO” and saying voting for him “would be a tragic mistake.”