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Trump calls out Republican speaker nominee.
Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the House majority whip, was elected as the GOP speaker nominee Tuesday on a fifth ballot in an internal race that drew nine Republican candidates. However, he does not yet have enough support to be elected on the House floor because of Republican holdouts. To prevail, Emmer would need a majority of the full chamber. Former president Donald Trump took direct aim at Emmer as he was trying to convert holdouts. In a social media post, Trump called Emmer a RINO — Republican in name only — and “totally out-of-touch with Republican Voters.”
It’s unclear what Republicans will do now that Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) has withdrawn from the speaker’s race. Does the conference vote for Vice Chair Mike Johnson (R-La.), Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) or Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.)? Does the conference start all over again?
One motion regaining traction: Rep. Dave Joyce’s (R-Ohio) resolution empowering Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.) until Jan. 3, 2024. Republicans rebuked it last week, and Joyce did not introduce it formally because more Democrats than Republicans would have voted in support of it on the House floor.
But now that more Republicans have privately shown willingness to back the effort because of repeated failed attempts to elect a speaker themselves, two sources familiar with the motion say that it has enough support from both parties to pass on the House floor. Like everything else, it remains unclear when that could be introduced, but it would be done so under privilege, meaning it gives the House 48 hours to take it up.
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