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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

House GOP spirals into chaos as Emmer becomes third

speaker nominee dropped in three weeks
Emmer beat out six other GOP hopefuls on Tuesday morning
By Elizabeth Elkind Fox News

Published October 24, 2023 4:26pm EDT

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Fox News Politics:
Another one bites
the dust

GOP chooses Tom Emmer as House speaker candidate

FOX News' Chad Pergram reports the latest from Capitol Hill.

Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., has dropped out of the race for speaker hours after
being named House Republicans’ nominee, three sources tell Fox News Digital.

Emmer won a majority of the GOP Conference on Tuesday morning after five rounds of
voting, against six other potential candidates.

But it quickly became clear that he did not have enough support to outright win a House-
ide vote. With Republicans’ razor-thin majority, a GOP speaker-designate can only lose
four members of their own party to win the gavel without Democratic support.

MEET TOM EMMER, THE GOP MAJORITY WHIP AND NOMINEE FOR HOUSE SPEAKER

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer speaks to reporters as he leaves a House Republican candidates forum where
congressmen who ran for Speaker of the House presented their platforms in the Longworth House Office Building on
Capitol Hill on October 23, 2023 (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

At least 25 Republicans said they would not support Emmer in a House floor vote after he
won the title.

More GOP lawmakers indicated after the roll call that the conference needed to move on
to a new nominee.

"This morning I voted for Rep. Donalds for speaker. Followed by Rep Johnson. Rep Emmer
does not have votes to be speaker and I will be unable to support him on the floor," Rep.
Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., wrote on social media platform X.

WHY JORDAN COULDN'T GRAB THE SPEAKER GAVEL AFTER THREE FAILED BALLOTS

Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., called on GOP Conference Vice Chair Mike Johnson, R-La.,
and Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla., to jump back into the race.
Both lost to Emmer earlier in the day.

Rep. Matt Rosendale was among those who spoke up after the conference vote calling for a new nominee (Getty Images)

"This morning, the Republican Conference met to elect a Speaker. I supported Kevin Hern
until he was eliminated from the ballot, at which time supported Mike Johnson," I

Rosendale said on X. "Tom Emmer has secured the nomination but no longer has a path to
secure 217 votes. It’s time to get back in the room and give Kevin Hern and Mike Johnson
an opportunity to get to 217!"

HOUSE REPUBLICANS VOTE TO REMOVE JIM JORDAN AS SPEAKER NOMINEE

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump exerted external pressure against Emmer.

"Ihave many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly
great Warriors," Trump wrote on his Truth Social app. "RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not
know well, is not one of them."

Former President Trump has also waded into the race to bash Emmer (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Shortly after Emmer dropped out, the offices of Reps. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., and Mike
Johnson, R-La., told Fox News Digital they were both re-entering the race.

Emmer is the third speaker-designate House Republicans have had in as many weeks.
Congress has been paralyzed since eight GOP lawmakers voted with all Democrats to oust
ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the first time in history the House deposed its own
leader.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio – two of
the highest-profile House Republicans after McCarthy – were both forced out of the race
because they were unable to win over the 217 Republicans needed for victory.

Elizabeth Elkind is a reporter for Fox News Digital focused on Congress as well as the intersection of
Artificial Intelligence and politics. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

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