As of Tuesday, it has been three weeks since the U.S. House had a Speaker. This week saw the Republicans bringing up their fourth nominee for Speaker after Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer, R-MN, declined to move forward.
Emmer was cast in conservative circles as too moderate to represent the party as Speaker. One likely vote against Emmer came from Georgia’s Rep. Rick Allen, R-GA, Allen told CNN’s Manu Raju that he was “very concerned” by Emmer’s vote supporting same-sex marriage and will refuse to support him because of it. Emmer also appeared to lack some support because of his vote to certify the 2020 election. By the evening on Tuesday, Emmer had withdrawn from consideration as it was clear he would lose more than the 4 Republicans that would cost him the Speaker’s chair.
Allen is the latest Georgian to make some news amidst the Speaker saga.
Not a single Georgia Republican voted to oust McCarthy but following a first vote in favor of Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-GA, joined approximately 20 Republicans in opposing Rep. Jordan in his second and third Speaker vote bids.
“As the Republican Conference designee, I supported Congressman Jordan on the first ballot. Following the first vote, I had genuine concerns about the threatening tactics and pressure campaigns Jordan and his allies were using to leverage members for their votes,” said Ferguson.
I discussed this directly with Jim, and planned to support him on the second ballot. When the pressure campaigns and attacks on fellow members ramped up, it became clear to me that the House Republican Conference does not need a bully as the Speaker. Shortly after casting that vote, my family and I started receiving death-threats. That is simply unacceptable, unforgivable, and will never be tolerated.”
U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-GA, also made the news as he threw his hat in the ring for the job, concerned about the perception of chaos in the House.
“If we are going to be the majority, we need to act like the majority, and that means we have to do the right things the right way,” Scott said. “I supported and voted for Rep. Jim Jordan to be the Speaker of the House. Now that he has withdrawn, I am running again to be the Speaker of the House.”
Scott’s run didn’t last terribly long. According to Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-GA, Scott did get 18 votes in the closed door session’s first vote Tuesday morning, 14 on the second, and after coming in last among nominees with 12 on the third vote, Scott was pushed out of contention. Emmer clinched the nomination on ballot four at lunchtime but withdrew by dinner.
There is at least one Republican trying to have some fun in a bad situation, Rep. Mike Collins, R-GA. Collins has been making the most of his use of Twitter (X), styling himself the “Memer of Congress” and making light of the ongoing saga.
All of this could end Wednesday as another vote is expected for current nominee, Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson, who may not have some of the internal caucus baggage the other candidates had. Or else Collins will continue tweeting…
