GOP Picks Another Nominee for House Speaker

For the third time in as many weeks, Republicans have picked their nominee to become the next House speaker. Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota won on the fifth ballot Tuesday, though he has the same problem as Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise before him: It's unclear whether he can get enough votes in the full House to win the gavel, reports Politico. Perhaps his biggest political problem among fellow Republicans is that Donald Trump does not want him to be speaker, given that Emmer voted to certify President Biden's election victory, per the AP.

Emmer, 62, is currently the No. 3 House Republican, notes the Hill. He received 117 votes in the final ballot Tuesday, enough to beat Louisiana's Mike Johnson (97). As with Scalise and Jordan, he will probably need to secure the votes of 217 Republicans to win. "We have the same five to seven to eight that I don't know are going to instantly gravitate" to backing Emmer, said GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa. That would likely be enough to scuttle Emmer's chances, unless Democrats came to his aid. (More speaker of the House stories.)