Rep. Tom Emmer selected as new House speaker nominee.
- •Today's vote: House Republicans selected Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota as their new speaker nominee Tuesday after several rounds of voting via secret ballot. Emmer, who is the House majority whip and was backed by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, prevailed over a crowded field of candidates — but it remains unclear whether he can lock down the votes needed to ultimately win the gavel.
- •Uphill battle: Multiple Republicans say Emmer’s bid to be speaker is on the verge of collapse as he faces opposition from the right flank of the GOP conference and fresh attacks waged by former President Donald Trump. Emmer can only afford to lose four Republicans, and 26 voted against him in a roll call vote after he won the nomination. The House GOP is expected to reconvene their closed-door meeting this afternoon and Emmer is meeting with holdouts in the meantime, members say.
- •Chamber in limbo: Pressure is intensifying on House Republicans to elect a new speaker three weeks after McCarthy was ousted. The House remains effectively frozen — a dire situation as Congress faces a funding deadline in November and as crisis unfolds abroad in Ukraine and with Israel’s war against Hamas.
Trump's team calling members and urging them to oppose Emmer, sources say
Members of former President Donald Trump's team are calling House GOP members and urging them to oppose Speaker designee Tom Emmer for speaker, two sources tell CNN.
One source said they’re “whipping hard.” The other source said more members are now pulling their support because of it.
Trump issued his strongest rebuke of Emmer yet in a social media post on Tuesday, calling the Minnesota Republican a RINO, or a "Republican in Name Only," and said voting for him "would be a tragic mistake!”.
Tom Emmer’s bid to be speaker on verge of collapse, according to multiple GOP members
House GOP Whip Tom Emmer’s bid to be speaker is on the verge of collapse amid opposition from the right flank of his conference over his past votes on fiscal and social issues — and amid fresh attacks waged by former President Donald Trump, according to multiple Republicans.Several Republicans who oppose Emmer say they will not move off their opposition and are calling for a new candidate.
Emmer can only afford to lose four Republicans, and 26 voted against him behind closed doors.
He voted to certify the 2020 election, voted to keep the government open for 47 days, voted for the bipartisan law to avoid a debt default and voted to codify same-sex marriage — all issues that members of the hard-right have cited.
House Republican says if Emmer can't get 217, "that's when it gets a little scary"
As Speaker designee Tom Emmer works behind the scenes to win over the 26 GOP members against him, GOP Rep. Mario Diaz Balart said that if Emmer can't flip votes, "that's when it gets a little scary."
"If Tom Emmer can't do it, then that's when it gets a little scary because remember, he's the whip. He knows how to count votes. He has the relationships with every member of the conference," the Florida Republican said.
If Emmer fails to clinch 217 votes among Republicans, there is no consensus on a backup plan.
Trump formally comes out against Emmer
Former President Donald Trump rejected Rep. Tom Emmer in a post on Truth Social Tuesday, as the speaker designee looks to win over 26 GOP members who voted against him in a roll call vote behind closed doors.“I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly great Warriors. RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them," Trump said in the post.
"He fought me all the way, and actually spent more time defending Ilhan Omar, than he did me—He is totally out-of-touch with Republican Voters. 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? Has he only changed because that’s what it takes 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!” he continued.
Emmer criticized a Trump rally crowd when they chanted "send her back" regarding Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who represents Minnesota — the same state as Emmer.
The former president's posture on Emmer has shifted, according to two sources close to Trump.
While there is a lot of fraught history between many Trump allies and Emmer, Trump had privately and publicly indicated that he would stay neutral in the speaker’s race. Monday morning, multiple sources in touch with Trump described him as "uninvolved" and "unfocused" on the happenings in the House.
That changed Monday afternoon when Trump was shown a tweet from Emmer responding to Trump’s remarks in New Hampshire.
Trump was angered by the familiarity of the tweet and according to one source, the “deception” that Emmer and Trump had a relationship that they do not.
“Thank you, Mr. President,” Emmer tweeted on a video of Trump saying he and Emmer got along. “If my colleagues elect me Speaker of the House, I look forward to continuing our strong working relationship.”
“Tom Emmer has not been a friend to Donald Trump for 4-5 years,” a source close to Trump said. “Now he’s painting himself as the Trump candidate or Trump whisperer and it’s just not true.”
Emmer's deputy whip says getting to 217 is "an exercise that we're very comfortable with"
GOP Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, Speaker designee Tom Emmer's deputy whip, told CNN he and Emmer are used to this process of working over the conference and getting to 217 votes.
"This is an exercise that we're very comfortable with," the Pennsylvania Republican said of the whipping process, which Emmer and Reschenthaler have done for every floor vote this Congress.
Walking out right behind Reschenthaler, though, was GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who voted for the Republican's former Speaker designee Jim Jordan over Emmer during a closed-door roll call vote and told CNN she would continue to do so.
Rep. Joyce says if Emmer can’t get 217 votes he's willing to bring up a resolution to empower interim speaker.
Ohio Republican Rep. Dave Joyce said if Rep. Tom Emmer can’t get to 217 votes, he’s willing to bring up his resolution to empower interim Speaker Patrick McHenry — but said he doesn’t know when the breaking point for the rest of the conference will be.
“I appreciate the fact that Tom is trying to get to 217 before we go out and create a spectacle on the floor, but if we go over there and we’re not getting the requisite votes that we need, we have to open the place up,” he said.
He said his new resolution “would do just that,” so they can continue to have conversations until they get the numbers.
House Republicans debated the idea last week but put the plan is on ice amid fierce pushback from some corners of the party.
“I don’t know when this conference will feel enough pain to understand that this practice is an exercise in futility, and we need to open the place back up,” he said.
Joyce said Emmer does not want to leave the room until he has 217 votes, “he wants to go, if you’ve got a complaint, let’s hear ‘em right here, let’s get this over with today, he’s not gonna make a public spectacle, unfortunately, that’s been made over there before.”
