If you blinked Tuesday afternoon, you might have missed Rep. Tom Emmer's bid to become House speaker. Emmer, the No. 3 House Republican, was picked as the party's third nominee in three weeks Tuesday but he abruptly dropped out around four hours later when it became clear that he couldn't win 217 votes if there was a vote of the full House, Politico reports. Sources tell the Washington Post that numerous Republican lawmakers decided Emmer, the House majority whip, had no hope of victory after Donald Trump urged people not to support him in a post on Truth Social Tuesday afternoon.
Trump slammed Emmer, who voted to certify President Biden's election victory, as a RINO—an acronym for "Republican in name only"—and accused him of being "totally out of touch" with the party's voters. "Voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!" Trump wrote. The former president's post went up shortly after a meeting in which Emmer attempted to consolidate his support. Soon after the Minnesota lawmaker won the nomination, with 117 votes to 97 for Rep. Mike Johnson, around two dozen Republicans declared they wouldn't support him, the New York Times reports.
The House has now been leaderless for three weeks and Republicans are back to square one after the failed bids of Emmer and Reps. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan. Sources tell NBC News that Johnson and Rep. Kevin Hern are expected to appear on the Republican's conference's next secret ballot. (More Tom Emmer stories.)
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