As the House enters its third week without a speaker, nearly a dozen Republicans are vying to earn the support of their conference to wield the gavel, throwing the chamber into even more uncertainty.
The conference is searching for a new speaker nominee after Rep. Jim Jordan on Friday became the latest to exit the race. The chamber has been without a speaker since House Republicans ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy earlier this month.
Nine House Republicans are running for the position, announced House GOP conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, including GOP Whip Tom Emmer, who is endorsed by McCarthy. Emmer has moved to lock in support across the ideological and geographic spectrum in the conference, giving him what many House Republicans believe is an advantage, according to GOP sources. Though he could face an uphill battle against allies of former President Donald Trump who have been quick to criticize Emmer for voting to certify the 2020 election.
The speaker hopefuls spent the weekend working the phones to win their conference’s support ahead of an expected candidate forum Monday evening and secret-ballot election Tuesday.
These are the other GOP representatives running for speaker:
- Jack Bergman of Michigan, a retired 40-year veteran of the US Marines.
- Byron Donalds of Florida, a second-term member of the far-right Freedom Caucus.
- Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, chair of the conservative group known as the Republican Study Committee – which wields a large bloc of GOP members.
- Mike Johnson of Louisiana, the vice chairman for the House Republican conference.
- Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.
- Gary Palmer of Alabama, the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee.
- Austin Scott of Georgia, the seven-term ally of McCarthy who quickly dropped out of a last-minute challenge to Jordan last…
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