Can the GOP’s latest speaker nominee actually win?

WASHINGTON —  First, McCarthy. Then Scalise and Jordan, and now Emmer. The list of House Republicans who have tried and failed to win the speaker’s gavel keeps growing.

On Tuesday morning, House Republicans selected Tom Emmer of Minnesota as their latest nominee for speaker of the House. But by that afternoon, he had decided to drop out.

Emmer, like Reps. Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan before him, could not convince 217 of his fellow Republicans to back him. His chances were further diminished when former President Trump came out against his nomination.

On Truth Social, Trump attacked Emmer, describing him as a “RINO” — a Republican in Name Only — and saying Emmer never sought his endorsement. “Voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!” Trump wrote.

Politics

News Analysis: The House Republican civil war shows Trump’s power — and its limits

Tom Emmer, a member of House GOP leadership, failed to secure the votes for the speakership Tuesday after the former president expressed opposition to Emmer’s candidacy.

Oct. 25, 2023

Emmer dropped out of the contest Tuesday afternoon, just hours after he was chosen as his party’s nominee for speaker.

That evening, House Republicans picked Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana as their fifth speaker nominee of the year. A floor vote on his candidacy could happen Wednesday.

Hello, my name is Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu. I cover national politics for the L.A. Times. Today we look at the farce that the House speakership election has become.

Same problem, different day

The U.S. House of Representatives ground to a halt on Oct. 3, when Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and seven other rebel Republicans worked with Democrats to oust Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) from the speaker’s chair. Three weeks in, no Republican has been able to break the stalemate.

The problem that led to McCarthy’s ouster hasn’t gone away: House Republicans are still at war with themselves.

The most Trump-aligned House Republicans are reluctant to support candidates like Emmer, who voted to certify the result of the 2020 election and might be more willing to compromise with Democrats to keep the government running. And members who are less aligned with the former president haven’t wanted to vote for a candidate like Trump-endorsed Jim Jordan, perhaps the member of Congress most associated with the failed attempt to overturn the results of that election.

Trump suggested Wednesday morning that he believes that Johnson, who helped convince other Republicans to sign on to an effort to cast doubt on the results of the 2020 election, would be an acceptable choice for speaker.

Johnson and the other remaining candidates, Trump wrote on TruthSocial, “are beyond reproach, and represent the absolute best there is in the Republican Party.” The question now is whether enough House Republicans agree.

The latest from Trumpland

—Jenna Ellis, an attorney and prominent conservative media figure, reached a deal with prosecutors Tuesday and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge over efforts to overturn former President Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia, the Associated Press reported. Her plea means three high-profile people responsible for pushing baseless legal challenges to Biden’s victory have agreed to accept responsibility for their roles rather than take their chances before a jury.

—In the chaotic weeks after the 2020 election, the significance of the gathering at the Georgia Capitol wasn’t immediately clear, the Associated Press reported. But it has emerged as a crucial element in the prosecution of Trump and 18 others who were indicted by a Georgia grand jury in August on allegations of trying to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s narrow win in the state.

The view from Washington

—U.S. Rep. Adam B. Schiff, a California Democrat who is running for Senate, on Tuesday introduced legislation that would provide unemployment benefits nationwide to workers on strike, Times writer Queenie Wong reported. Most states don’t allow striking workers to collect unemployment. Under the Empowering Striking Workers Act of 2023, workers would be able to collect unemployment pay after two weeks on strike.

—Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan ended his bid to lead the lower chamber Friday after facing stiff opposition from moderates and other lawmakers in key districts, Times writers Erin B. Logan and Faith Pinho reported. But all five California Republicans from districts Biden won in 2020 stood firmly behind Jordan throughout his three failed attempts to secure the gavel. Their decision to back the Ohioan could come back to haunt them.

—The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a second major case on social media and will decide whether the Biden White House violated the 1st Amendment when it urged platforms to take down “misinformation and disinformation” about COVID-19, Times writer David G. Savage reported.

The view from California

—Gov. Gavin Newsom comforted a mother whose son was kidnapped by Hamas, and visited a hospital where Israelis were recovering from injuries from the Oct. 7 attacks, Times writer Laurel Rosenhall reported. While the international exposure could help burnish Newsom’s resume if he ever does run for president, he also faces political risks by stepping into global conflicts that are outside a governor’s authority.

—During his first term in office, George Gascón has frequently been at odds with his own prosecutors and law enforcement, who say his policies aimed at reducing mass incarceration and racially disparate outcomes in the criminal justice system have led to spikes in violence, Times writer James Queally reported. Data show the violent crime rate is trending down, but some experts have cautioned against making connections between short-term shifts in the crime rate and a prosecutor’s policies.

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