By LISA MASCARO, STEPHEN GROVES, FARNOUSH AMIRI and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press
Republicans picked Rep. Tom Emmer as their nominee for House speaker Tuesday as they try again to fill the top position, but the choice quickly ran into familiar resistance from hard-liners and allies of Donald Trump leaving no guarantee the latest hopeful can win the gavel.
Three weeks after Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy in a historic first, they appear no closer to choosing a new speaker who can credibly unite the GOP majority, lead the party and reopen the House.
As the GOP Whip, Emmer of Minnesota jumped out front during private balloting among a hodge-podge list of mostly lesser-known congressmen for speaker, a powerful position second in line to the presidency. While he won a simple majority, he lost more than two dozen Republicans, far short of what will be needed during a House floor vote ahead.
"We're going to have to figure out how to get our act together — I mean, big boys and big girls have got to quit making excuses and we just got to get it done," said Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., a conservative caucus leader.
The House has been in turmoil since a contingent of hard-line Republicans ousted McCarthy, creating what's now a governing crisis that's preventing the normal operations of Congress. There appears to be no resolution within reach.
Emmer, a lawyer, is the third-ranking House Republican, but he has a rocky relationship with Trump that quickly threatened his nomination. Known as a gruff hockey coach, Emmer had reached out to the former president over the weekend for backing, only to be derided as Trump said he was talking to a lot of candidates about the job.
Coming in a steady second was constitutional law expert Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, who directly battled Emmer in the fifth-round private ballot.
Others were eliminated and dropped out, including Rep. Byron Donalds, a top Trump ally, and McDonald's franchise owner Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, a conservative leader, who plied his colleagues with hamburgers seeking their support.
Also withdrawing from the race were Reps. Austin Scott of Georgia, Jack Bergman of Michigan, Pete Sessions of Texas, Gary Palmer of Alabama and Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania.
Having rejected the top replacements, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, there is no longer any obvious choice for the job.
After Emmer emerged in the private balloting, Republicans held a roll call behind closed doors to try to unify, as their party rules require them to fall in line behind the nominee, but still fell far short of what he'll need in the full House vote. With Republicans controlling the House 221-212 over Democrats, any GOP nominee can afford just a few detractors.
Republicans have been flailing all month, unable to conduct routine business as they fight amongst themselves leaving daunting challenges ahead.
The federal government risks a shutdown in a matter of weeks if Congress fails to pass funding legislation by a Nov. 17 deadline to keep services and offices running. More immediately, President Joe Biden has asked Congress to provide $105 billion in aid — to help Israel and Ukraine amid their wars and to shore up the U.S. border with Mexico. Federal aviation and farming programs face expiration without action.
