Posted on 10/24/2023 9:24:36 AM PDT by JSM_Liberty
House Republicans nominated House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) for Speaker on Tuesday, making him the third GOP lawmaker who will attempt to get 217 votes to secure the gavel.
The conference selected Emmer — the No. 3 House Republican — for the position in a secret ballot during an internal election that lasted three hours, choosing him over six other candidates vying for the job. Two Republicans withdrew their names from the race before voting began.
Emmer, 62, will now take his nomination to the House floor, where he will have to muster enough votes to win the gavel — a heavy lift that the previous two GOP Speaker nominees failed to achieve. If all lawmakers are present and vote for a specific candidate, Emmer will need at least 217 votes.
It may also be a hard climb for Emmer, who has a less conservative voting record than some members would like.
He has voted in favor of codifying same-sex marriage; in favor of spending bills and a debt limit deal that outraged hardliners; and opposed votes on Jan. 6, 2021, objecting to 2020 election results.
Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.) said he will not back Emmer for Speaker because of his vote in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which was passed by Congress last year and gives federal protections to same-sex marriages.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) on Tuesday said the conservative House Freedom Caucus is not committing to backing Emmer on the floor.
“We’ll see, all of them have different characters, different qualities and we’ll see how it goes,” he told reporters when asked if he would back Emmer.
“We want to sit down with whoever gets it as a Freedom Caucus and understand what their roles —what their roles will be, what they want to push and things like that,” he added.
Emmer’s nomination is the latest development in the long-winded Speaker saga, which has fractured the GOP conference and left the House at a standstill. The chamber is unable to conduct legislative business on the floor without installing a permanent Speaker or empowering Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), a reality that has prevented lawmakers from advancing key priorities like government funding and aid for Israel and Ukraine.
Tuesday marked exactly three weeks since eight Republicans banded with Democrats to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his post.
And for Emmer — the no-nonsense former collegiate hockey player — Tuesday marks the pinnacle of his career on Capitol Hill. The Minnesota Republican came to Congress in 2015 and served two stints as chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) before rising to majority whip.
Emmer led the House GOP’s campaign arm when Republicans regained the majority in 2022, winning a net-nine seats that delivered them their slim, five-seat majority. Since that victory, he has been instrumental in helping the GOP conference secure a list of legislative wins.
Even Freedom Caucus members have praised Emmer throughout the year for being an honest broker. His office has been a frequent gathering place for Republicans this year as they hashed out internal disagreements.
In a letter to colleagues announcing his candidacy, Emmer pledged to “always be honest and direct with all of you, even if we disagree.”
“I will never make a promise I cannot fulfill,” Emmer wrote. “I expect to be held accountable, and you can expect that we will also keep you to your word.”
The House GOP’s path to nominating Emmer was muddy.
Last week, House Republicans voted to drop Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as the conference’s nominee after he fell short of the gavel on three floor votes. Before that, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) withdrew his name from the race after Jordan backers said they would not support him on the House floor.
The floodgates then opened, with nine candidates throwing their hat in the ring as the conference’s next best chance to break the Speaker impasse.
Republican Reps. Dan Meuser (Pa.) and Gary Palmer (Ala.) withdrew their names before voting began, while Emmer, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), House Republican Conference Vice Chairman Mike Johnson (R-La.), Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) remained in the running.
Emmer was seen as an early frontrunner in the crowded field to be the third Republican Speaker nominee because his rank in the GOP conference, his experience of running in leadership races and an early endorsement from McCarthy, who threw his support behind the Minnesotan even before he formally jumped in the race.
Emmer was also able to breathe a small sigh of relief after former President Trump made positive comments when asked about the Minnesota Republican — which followed negative remarks from Trump loyalists aimed at him.
Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon, for example, called Emmer a “Trump hater.” And Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn, speaking on former Bannon’s “War Room” show Friday, knocked Emmer for not yet endorsing Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. Emmer has said he does not plan to endorse any primary candidate.
But while in New Hampshire on Tuesday, when a reporter said Emmer had not always been Trump’s biggest fan, the former president said: “I think he’s my biggest fan now because he called me yesterday, and he told me, ‘I’m your biggest fan,’ so I don’t know about that.”
“I’ve always gotten along with him,” Trump added of Emmer.
The pair also spoke ahead of Tuesday’s internal election.
Looks like he got himself a new girlfriend, to boot.
______________
I think that that’s unlikely. He likes them much younger than that, and she prefers close blood relatives.
This isn’t really on Gaetz. Something needs to change; he recognizes that. You don’t win all of the battles but it doesn’t mean you don’t have the battles. If you haven’t noticed, the DOJ is completely compromised and weaponized. No one even cares about the border and every couple of months they are “sending” money to Ukraine and now they’re moving in on the middle East. All the while they complain about “social security” that isn’t at all secured for the people who have paid into it. There is a fire, you don’t blame the person yelling fire, you blame the nutjobs who are anxiously pouring gasoline on it after igniting it.
Emmer is one of the most anti-MAGA members of the GOP house. Worse than McCarthy. He was McCarthys henchman.
IT would be reported as a 10.7 earthquake.
A “sota” is the Talmudic term for a woman who is suspect of adultery. Minnesota, as modified by that fun fact, can be read is a small-time (Minnie) suspect cheater. From the land of Ilhan, the brother-f@#$er. No thanks.
“He got punked by the Democrats.”
He got punked by Bush’s New World Order.
Oops! I thought it was on a scale of 100 at the website I looked at.
If think he’s acceptable as Speaker, you need to become a Democrat.
It has improved nothing that’s true. It accomplished nothing and it reinforced the knowledge that what Republican voters want means absolutely nothing
Jonathan, not George... and NPV has idiots from both the GOP and the DNC backing it.
Hardly makes Tom as Soros plant... just... Wrong on the Electoral College.
Oh I could care less about the paralysis narrative..
I am not playing stupid games.
I am asking seriously to the Gaetz is a hero crowd, how has ANYTHING improved by this clown show?
Congress can’t do anything.
That alone is “progress” IMO.
91.5% inline with Trumps policies during his term as Prez...
You’ve got a HARD definition of “anti-”...
That's absurd. The Republican party would buckle and represent its base or it would go out of business in that scenario.
And, you don't seem to grasp that status quo isn't acceptable anymore and the Republican establishment is as big an enemy to the citizens of this country as the Democrat party.
Massive deficit spending is unsustainable without horrific consequences. Open borders is destroying this country. And neocon foreign policy, in addition being a corrupt mechanism for money laundering, has us on the verge WW III, which we'd get annihilated in.
1) Every Gaetz naysayer on FR is a hypocrite. Period. Gaetz has finally did what every big mouth blow hard that has posted on FR for 30 years has wanted. He demanded and got the option to vote to get rid of a consensus RINO speaker and not only that, he actuallg acted on it. This is the FIRST in Republican party history that an elected rep actually followed through with a threat and not just a strongly worded letter. Now you are complaining about the results and calling the one MAN every name in the book. Who really looks like the crapshow that cant get its act together. The republican party or conservative base. Is leading doing the right thing only if the right thing doesn’t lead to caos? No, that is not leadership. You all have witnessed an act that everyone one of you blowhards have demanded in one way or another over these past 30 years. Let the chips fall where they may. This is what burning it all down looks like.
2) No one who supports pedophile (gay) marriage has the intellect, respect or right to be anywhere near leadership or a child ever. You disqualify yourself from participating in normal human civilization. There was a point not long ago when western civilation understand that as common sense. Emmer should be a no for that vote alone.
We can’t have a real conservative as speaker, but we can have an assistant democrap. Great. I hate the GOP. Why don’t they just all declare themselves democraps and be done with it?
runoff elections would fix most of the problems
I'm fine with as much pain as possible until we restore our representative republic.
You're obviously for the same old, same old.
We have deficit spending that unsustainable and endangering the well being of everyone. We have neocon foreign policy that, in addition to being a money laundering mechanism for the elite, has us closer to WW III than we were during the Cold War. We've let people into this country via open borders that are a danger to the citizens of this country.
Those of us with a brain aren't tolerating any of that or rigged elections anymore.
Nancy Pelosi was given an eviction notice from the House. So was Steny.
2 wins that happened only because McCarthy was removed..
Not because R team had any guts. The R team was upset the Pelosi team didn’t have their R team speaker’s back.
That’s two less D team swamp members with offices in the Swamp’s House..
Thanks to 8 R’s, every D team member, and at least one spiteful R member that was angry McCarthy got knifed by Pelosi in the back..
As the Swamp World turns
03/11/2021 Gun Control: Require new universal background checks and effectively outlaw private gun transfers - Emmer Voted NO
IMO, the GOP in the House is akin to a scorpion spasmodically stinging itself in a ring of fire. I don't see Emmer as good or bad in the overall conflagration of the GOP. He's just the next sting. If he should be elected, at least he appears to vote right on gun issues. I left the GOP when Daddy Bush left the NRA. I admit to enjoying the party flame itself. At least a Conservative party could outright barter with whatever is left of the GOP to support conservative causes, instead of bickering between caucuses behind closed doors.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.