There is still no Republican candidate to lead the House of Representatives, which has been mired in an institutional blockade since the ouster of Kevin McCarthy at the beginning of October and the recent failures of Jim Jordan to take the reins of Lower House of Congress. This Tuesday the Republican Party chose its “number 3”, Tom Emmer, but he resigned a few hours after being nominated after receiving opposition from former US President Donald Trump.
The representative of Minnesota informed his colleagues in a closed-door meeting that he will not ultimately choose to lead the Lower House because he did not have a chance to pass the vote scheduled in the plenary session, local media reported .
Emmer, 62, was nominated four hours ago in the internal election of the Republican parliamentary group where he defeated eight other candidates.
Trump’s lace
However, criticism quickly emerged from the most radical members of the party who thought it was not conservative enough. The decisive blow was given by Trump, who has great influence among the Republicans and who warned on social networks that the choice of Emmer would be “a terrible mistake.”
“I have many wonderful friends who want to lead the House and some of them are good fighters. But the fake Republican Tom Emmer, who I don’t know very well, is not one of them,” said the former president (2017-2021).
Emmer acknowledged President Joe Biden’s election victory over Trump in 2020
Emmer recognized the election victory of President Joe Biden against Trump in 2020, supported a project in September to avoid a government shutdown, favors gay marriage and supports the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, distinguishing him from in the most radical of his political formations.
Paralysis since McCarthy’s impeachment
The position of speaker, as the president of the House is known in English, has been vacant since fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy was fired on October 3 following a motion from the party’s hardest wing. Since then, Emmer is the third Republican nominee to lead the institution to fail due to internal divisions within the Republican Party.
Republicans have a narrow majority in the House with 221 seats compared to 212 for Democrats.
Congressman Steve Scalise was nominated but never voted in the plenary session due to lack of support, while Jim Jordan, who replaced him as a candidate, withdrew from the race on Friday after losing three votes in the plenary session where some lawmakers. from his own ranks turned his back on him.
Republicans have a slim majority in the House with 221 seats compared to the Democrats’ 212 seats, so the speaker candidate cannot afford to lose more than four votes from his own ranks. .
Until a new speaker of the House is elected, new resolutions or bills cannot be passed while the approval of new military aid for Ukraine and Israel is up in the air. Democrats charge that conservatives have turned the Legislature into a circus.
