Rep. Tom Emmer Drops Out As Speaker Nominee Hours After Winning Nomination

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Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer has dropped his bid to be speaker hours after he won a majority of votes in the GOP conference on Tuesday, becoming the party's latest nominee for speaker, three weeks after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the position in a historic vote.

Emmer's internal election victory, however, was only the start of what was an insurmountable process to reach 217 votes, the number necessary to win the speaker's gavel with only Republican votes.

That path became more difficult after former President Donald Trump opposed Emmer's nomination, posting on Truth Social, "Voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!" He said Emmer was "out of touch with Republican voters" and "never respected the Power of a Trump Endorsement."

In a closed-door meeting of the Republican conference, Emmer defeated Rep. Mike Johnson in a secret ballot vote, 117 to 97, lawmakers said.

The party's decision to back Emmer came after weeks of infighting and two prior nominees. The first was Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who withdrew a day later after he was unable to muster enough support to win on the floor, and then Rep. Jim Jordan failed to garner a majority of support on the House floor in three rounds of voting.

Emmer voted to certify the 2020 election results, a key sticking point among the moderates who refused to back Jordan.

But the Minnesota Republican needed to persuade the far-right members of the conference to vote for him on the floor. A roll-call vote in the conference indicated that there were about 20 who currently oppose Emmer, far more than the four Republicans he can afford to lose on the House floor.

There were eight contenders after Monday's candidate forum, but Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama announced ahead of the vote that he was dropping out of the race. The seven candidates were then Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, and Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas.

Sessions was eliminated in the first round of voting Tuesday morning, while Emmer received the most votes. Bergman was eliminated in the second round, and Scott in the third round, with Emmer's lead growing. In the fourth round, Emmer remained on top and Johnson second. Donalds withdrew and Hern also dropped off the ballot, according to lawmakers, leaving just Johnson and Emmer left.