Republican Representative Tom Emmer became his party’s third nominee for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in three weeks Tuesday, as lawmakers struggle to fill one of the top leadership roles in the U.S. government.
The role of Speaker of the House has been vacant since October 3 when Rep. Kevin McCarthy became the first-ever speaker to be removed from his position. Eight Republicans joined with all 212 House Democrats for that vote. A right-wing faction of the Republican party was displeased with McCarthy for passing a short-term continuing resolution funding the government to keep it open past a September 30th deadline.
Since McCarthy’s ouster, House Republicans have been unsuccessful in coalescing around a replacement. They first nominated Rep. Steve Scalise of the southern state of Louisiana, who was not able to secure the needed votes.
The Republican caucus next gave its nod to Rep. Jim Jordan of the midwestern state of Ohio. Jordan is a conservative firebrand and staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump. But Jordan also failed to gain a 217-vote majority in the House, falling well short on a first vote in the full House and then losing ground on two subsequent ballots.
The party has been attempting to select a candidate that can secure a majority of votes in secret closed-door meetings. Heading into this week, nine members of the Republican party pitched their cases to become the next Speaker of the House. Representatives Gary Palmer and Dan Meuser withdrew before voting began Tuesday and others dropped out later in the day.
Representative Emmer had the most support in early balloting.
The 62-year old Emmer has served as Majority Whip, one of the top leadership posts in the House Republican Conference since earlier this year. He has represented the midwestern state of Minnesota since 2015.
The Republican infighting has left the role of speaker unfilled, causing the house unable to respond to crucial budget matters. A November 17 deadline looms for budget issues to be resolved before a partial government shutdown will go into effect.
The U.S. Speaker of the House is second in the line of presidential succession.
