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By Alex J. Rouhandeh
National Political Correspondent
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House Republicans ousted their third candidate for speaker with Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer, who serves as the party's majority whip, ending his nomination after facing backlash from the GOP's right flank. His candidacy lasted less than five hours.
Emmer won the nomination on a 117-97 secret ballot vote that saw him best eight other candidates. However, after 26 members refused to back the Minnesotan in a conference-wide voice vote that placed members on the record, his candidacy became embattled.
The blow that knocked Emmer's bid out of near contention came when former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to denounce Emmer, who just the day before tweeted that he looked "forward to continuing our strong work relationship" after Trump acknowledged Emmer as a "fan" and said he would not endorse a speaker candidate.
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"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 posted, using the acronym for "Republican in name only."
"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?" Trump wrote. "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!"
Emmer was among two of the nine speaker candidates who voted in favor of certifying the 2020 election. Additionally, he was the only candidate who voted in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act that requires all states to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages. This led others within Emmer's party to accuse the Minnesotan as not being a true conservative.
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was one of the first prominent names to back Emmer's bid. He told reporters following that initial vote that he thinks "people are tired of all this" and acknowledged that the House could see Republicans work with Democrats to select a speaker, as was the case when eight GOP lawmakers voted with Democrats to oust him.
Republicans already saw Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan bow out of the speaker race after less than 217 Republicans, the total needed to select a speaker, committed to pledging each man their support. If Emmer were to take his candidacy to the floor, Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips, a Democrat, said he would support Emmer's bid.
Congressman Mike Flood of Nebraska, who brought forth the aforementioned pledge, expressed his dismay following Emmer's exit from the race.
"This is a serious setback," he told reporters. "The [GOP] majority is only a majority if we vote like a majority, which means that in this conference, we have to decide who's our nominee and then we have to go to the floor and we have to unanimously support that person."
With Emmer out of the race, Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Congressman Kevin Tom Hern of Oklahoma are each poised to make a second run after originally losing to Emmer. Johnson previously chaired the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus of conservatives in Congress, and serves as vice chair of the House Republican Conference. Hern serves as chair of the Republican Study Committee, a caucus that influences the GOP legislative agenda.
Update 10/24/23, 5:45 p.m. ET: This article was updated with a comment from Congressman Flood.
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