The 4th Republican Speaker Nominee was set to be voted on
The House Way Forward: Repudiating a Nominee for Speaker to Put an End to the House G.O.P. With Mike Emmer
House Republicans chose and then quickly repudiated yet another of their nominees for speaker on Tuesday and rushed to name a fourth, pressing to put an end to a remarkable three-week-long deadlock that has left Congress leaderless and paralyzed.
At the press conference after the vote, Johnson told reporters that democracy can be messy but that it is our system. “We are going to restore your trust in what we do here, you’re going to see a new form of government and we’re going to move this quickly. This group here is ready to govern.”
The members invited reporters to the room where GOP members had been voting, and to the meeting, where Johnson’s selection was celebrated. Cheers rang out and members changed their name to “Mike”, as reporters questioned Johnson’s viability on the floor.
The House was in a state of disarray since rebels voted to oust Mr. McCarthy as speaker. Eight Republicans backed that move along with Democrats, who remained united behind their own leader, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Republicans had cast aside two previous winners of their closed-door nominating process — Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio — before settling on Mr. Emmer.
The Republican disarray underscored a new ethos that has gripped the House G.O.P.: Dozens of members have abandoned the old norms of respecting the winner of the party’s internal elections, and instead are acting according to their individual preferences, ideologies and allegiances.
Some people on the far-right voted for Jim Jordan. Jordan was dropped out of the race last week by Republicans, who voted to remove him after he lost three straight votes in the House. Others
Many members were absent for the voting which began after 8pm on Tuesday. Of the 204 members voting, 31 cast a ballot for someone who wasn’t even a declared candidate–sending a clear message that plenty of members are not satisfied with their options.
That number grew as the subsequent voting rounds wore on. McCarthy finished second on the last ballot and Donalds came in third.
The House Republicans Set to Vote on 4th Speaker Nominee after Rep. Tom Emmer Dropped His Candidate Tuesday Night
A person familiar with the decision said that he told Republicans in a closed-door meeting that he was ending his campaign. He then quickly left the room, avoiding reporters’ questions.
Representative Mike Johnson, a little-known social conservative from Louisiana, emerged on Tuesday night as the latest contender for the post after Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, dropped his bid only hours after securing the nomination. A backlash from the right left his candidacy in shambles and the G.O.P. as divided as ever.
Mr. Johnson’s coalition seemed to have come together by late Tuesday night and he was closer to capturing the speakership than any other candidate. He said he wanted to call for a floor vote at noon on Wednesday, though it was not certain if he had the votes to be elected.
The selection of Mr. Johnson, 51, was the latest abrupt turn in a chaotic leadership battle among House Republicans in which they have lurched from one speaker nominee to another — first a mainstream conservative, then a far-right rabble rouser, then another mainstream candidate and now another conservative hard-liner — putting their rifts on vivid display.
A social conservative, Mr. Johnson is a lawyer and the former chairman of the Republican Study Committee. He was on President Donald J. Trump’s impeachment defense team, and he led the effort to recruit House Republicans to sign a legal brief supporting a lawsuit to overturn the 2020 election results.
Pressed by reporters on Tuesday night about his efforts to overturn the election, Mr. Johnson smiled and shook his head, saying, “next question,” as Republicans beside him booed.
Mr. Johnson, an evangelical Christian, sponsored legislation that would effectively bar the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity at any institution that receives federal funds.
Source: House Set to Vote on 4th Republican Speaker Nominee
He is not the same as he is saying: House Republicans set to vote on 4th Republican Speaker Nominee, Rep. Steve Womack
He is against funding for the war in Ukraine and in the spending battles, which could pose a challenge to any new speaker.
Mr Johnson got 128 votes in a secret ballot vote on Tuesday night, with 44 Republicans voting for nominee not on the ballot, including 43 for Mr. McCarthy. In a separate vote, a few Republicans said they would not support Mr. Johnson on the floor.
“It’s a pretty sad commentary on governance right now,” said Representative Steve Womack of Arkansas, adding: “The American public cannot be looking at this and having any reasonable confidence that this conference can be governed. It is sad. I’m sad. I am very sad.
“I believe he has now learned his lesson, because he is saying that he is Pro-Trump all the way, but who can ever be sure?” Mr. Trump wrote. Is he the same as before because it takes winning to win? The Republican Party cannot take that chance, because that’s not where the America First Voters are. Voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!”
Source: House Set to Vote on 4th Republican Speaker Nominee
The Donald Trump “Uniparty” is not a Party of the Hard-Right Democrats, but a “Party of the Dems”
Hard-right Republicans think that they are their own party, which is different from mainstream, business-minded Republicans who they accuse of being in a “uniparty” with Democrats.
Mr. Emmer had attempted to mollify Mr. Trump by calling him over the weekend and praising him, according to the former president. But Mr. Trump made clear he had not been won over.
