The House will not have a University of Alaska Fairbanks alumnus as its Speaker. Only hours after being nominated by Republicans to become the Speaker, Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota withdrew from the race.
Although Emmer had prevailed over six other candidates in closed-door caucus votes, former President Donald Trump publicly said he does not support Emmer’s candidacy. Emmer needed 217 votes on the House floor, which it became obvious he did not have after Trump weighed in.
He follows the failed nominations of Reps. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan in a House drama that was initiated when harder-right Republicans joined with Democrats to vacate the House Speaker seat, which had been tenuously held by Rep. Kevin McCarthy since Jan. 7, when he was able to secure enough votes to lead the House of Representatives.
About 25 House Republicans said they would not vote for Emmer when his name came to the floor. Others who have dropped out include Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania and Gary Palmer of Alabama.
The House has been without a Speaker for three weeks. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is the nominee for Democrats. The Republican nominations are now down to these six:
- Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich.
- Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla.
- Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla.
- Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La.
- Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga.
- Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas
