US Republicans Nominate Emer as New House Speaker Candidate... Third Since McCarthy's Removal

With the Speaker position in the U.S. House of Representatives vacant for more than three weeks, the majority Republican Party has elected Tom Emmer (62), the House Majority Whip, as their new Speaker candidate.

The Republican Party held a closed-door caucus on the morning of the 24th (local time) and made this decision. Emmer is the new candidate following Steve Scalise, who withdrew just before the vote, and Jim Jordan, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who lost in three rounds of voting.

Amid internal party divisions, after the two candidates with the highest chances of winning were consecutively defeated, as many as nine candidates, including Emmer, threw their hats in the ring for the Speaker position (as of the previous night). After five rounds of secret ballots that day, Emmer narrowly defeated his competitor, Representative Mike Johnson, 117 to 97, to become the candidate.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Emmer, 62, ranks third in the House Republican hierarchy after the Speaker and the Majority Leader. He has served as a federal representative since 2015. The House is expected to soon convene a plenary session to begin the Speaker election process.

However, with more than 20 Republican members confirmed to withhold their votes from Emmer, there are growing analyses that electing the Speaker will not be easy. Currently, the Republicans hold a slim majority in the House with 221 seats compared to the Democrats' 212, so the number of defecting votes must be minimized to within four for Emmer to win. Previously, Jim Jordan, who was selected as a Speaker candidate with the support of former President Donald Trump, also had to concede after failing to secure enough votes amid over 20 defections within the party.

The New York Times (NYT) reported, "The fact that nine candidates are vying for Speaker shows deep divisions within the House Republicans," adding, "The Republicans have repeatedly failed to elect a new Speaker in recent weeks amid looming concerns over a federal government shutdown, the war in Ukraine, and escalating armed conflict between Israel and Hamas."

As a result, the House remains in a prolonged state of dysfunction due to the vacancy following the removal of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Negotiations over the 2024 fiscal year budget, which raises concerns about a potential shutdown, as well as emergency funding for Israel following a surprise attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and additional aid packages for Ukraine, are inevitably delayed. Former Speaker McCarthy was the first in U.S. history to be removed from the Speaker position after a resolution to remove him, introduced following the passage of a temporary budget to prevent a federal government shutdown for the 2024 fiscal year, passed the House on the 3rd.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.