Trump-backed Mike Johnson elected House speaker after 22 days - live
New Speaker Mike Johnson is a hard-right Christian conservative opposed to LGBT+ and reproductive rights
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Your support makes all the difference.House Republicans overwhelmingly elected Rep Mike Johnson (R-LA) to be the next speaker of the House after 22 days where the House of Representatives had no leader amid turmoil across the globe and the need to pass spending bills next month.
Mr Johnson, the former deputy whip for House Republicans, won 220 votes on the floor after House Republicans coalesced around him on Tuesday evening. His ascent came after House Majority Whip Tom Emmer dropped out a mere four hours after the House Republican conference nominated him to be speaker.
Republicans from all factions of the conference cheered Mr Johnson and whistled on the floor, chanting his name.
After conservatives, led by former president Donald Trump, revolted against Mr Emmer, he removed himself from the running and after another contest, Mr Johnson emerged victorious.
A former attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, Mr Johnson is considered an arch-social conservative staunchly opposed to abortion. Earlier this year, he introduced legislation that would have made it illegal to transport a person under the age of 18 across state lines to obtain an abortion without parental notification.
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GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer wins Republican speaker nomination
GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer has won the Republican nomination for speaker after five rounds of internal voting, but it remains unclear if he has the support needed to win a floor vote.
Mr Emmer and Rep Mike Johnson were the final two in the speaker’s race after Rep Kevin Hern was booted on the fourth round and Rep Byron Donalds dropped out voluntarily.
Mr Emmer, who joined the House after winning his seat in 2014 after spending six years in the state legislature and losing a tight race for Minnesota governor in 2010, won the first round of voting for the speaker nomination after receiving 78 votes, with Mr Johnson coming in second with 34 votes.
Mr Emmer’s lead grew in the second round, gaining 12 votes. Mr Johnson remained in second, gaining three votes. In the third ballot, Mr Emmer got 100 votes, 107 on the fourth, and finally 117 on the fifth.
‘He’s got a lot of work to do'
Rep Jim Banks told The Independent that Mr Emmer is “a long way away” from the speakership as of Tuesday afternoon. “He’s got a lot of work to do.”
Asked what his concerns were about Mr Emmer, he said: “I could have voted for any of the others who put themselves up today on the floor, but I can’t vote for someone who doesn’t have a conservative track record.”
Emmer may move to the floor for a vote of the full House later on Tuesday
The GOP spent hours behind closed doors in a candidate forum on Monday night.
Nine candidates put themselves forward as possible options – Mr Donalds, Mr Johnson, Jack Bergman, Mr Hern, Dan Meuser, Gary Palmer, Pete Sessions, Austin Scott, and Mr Emmer.
Mr Emmer may move to the floor for a vote of the full House later on Tuesday, with his strategy for how he’ll get the support needed remaining unclear. However, his allies have said that he wishes to avoid the debacle that led to the downfall of Rep Jim Jordan, by only going to the floor after he has made sure that he has the support needed, according to Politico.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the first nominee following the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, chose not to go to the floor after private conversations revealed he didn’t have the required support.
Trump slams ‘Globalist RINO’ Tom Emmer after winning speaker nomination
Donald Trump voiced his unhappiness with the result of the latest ballot to decide who would be the Republican Party nominee for Speaker of the House.
As the lunch break drew to a close at his civil trial for fraud in New York, the former president posted on Truth Social, attacking Minnesota Rep Tom Emmer as a “Globalist RINO”.
Mr Trump wrote: “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. He never respected the Power of a Trump Endorsement, or the breadth and scope of MAGA—MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
He continued: “He fought me all the way, and actually spent more time defending Ilhan Omar, than he did me—He is totally out-of-touch with Republican Voters. 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? Has he only changed because that’s what it takes to win?”
The former president concluded: “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!”
‘He’s the overwhelming vote-getter'
There are a number of holdouts that Mr Emmer will have to attempt to win over, including a number of allies of former President Donald Trump. Mr Meuser said that Mr Emmer has about “10 holdouts,” according to Politico.
With only 221 members in a body of 433--the House has two vacancies--Mr Emmer can only lose four.
“People are locked in, he’s explaining his position,” Rep Tim Burchett of Tennessee told The Independent after the vote. “ I would hope that he can get in the room with just those people that are holding out and that would be the way to go.”
Mr Burchett was one of eight Republicans who joined every Democrat to remove Mr McCarthy, but he voted for Mr Emmer.
“He’s the overwhelming vote-getter,” Mr Burchett said of Mr Emmer.
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