Republicans tap Tom Emmer as House speaker candidate

WASHINGTON — Republicans on Tuesday tapped Rep. Tom Emmer as their next candidate for speaker of the House, hoping to end a logjam that has paralyzed the House of Representatives for three weeks.

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Emmer was chosen from nine congressmen who earlier declared their candidacy for the position. The House Republican Conference chair, Rep. Elise Stefanik, congratulated the Minnesota Republican in a post Tuesday on social media.

It was not immediately clear when the full House will vote to determine whether Emmer will next take up the speaker’s gavel.

The GOP made its next pick for speaker 21 days after Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted from the role. The Oct. 3 vote made McCarthy the first House speaker to be removed from the position.

The House Republican Conference gave members until Sunday night to express interest in running for the job, which is second in line of succession to the U.S. presidency behind the vice president.

Emmer and Reps. Jack Bergman, Byron Donalds, Kevin Hern, Mike Johnson, Dan Meuser, Gary Palmer, Austin Scott and Pete Sessions met that deadline.

Meuser dropped out of consideration after speaking to the Republican Conference on Monday, according to CNN. Palmer also announced that he was removing his name from consideration before Emmer was chosen Tuesday in a series of votes by his colleagues.

Republicans originally nominated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., to replace McCarthy, but he withdrew his candidacy the next day.

GOP members then turned to Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who was unable to collect the necessary votes in three rounds of balloting. Hours after his third attempt failed Friday on the floor of the House, Jordan lost an internal ballot to remain the nominee for the speaker’s gavel.

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