There is chaos among the Republican Party congressmen in the House of Representatives. Ideological differences and personal grievances are preventing the appointment of a new Speaker of the House of Representatives. Just hours after Tom Emmer was named as the candidate to replace the fired Kevin McCarthy, the hardline party, under the long shadow of Donald Trump, has forced him to withdraw his candidacy. The most extreme were unwilling to accept the decision of the majority if they did not like it. After Emmer’s withdrawal, the Republican group met again behind closed doors and ultimately nominated the radicals’ new candidate, Mike Johnson, one of those who tried to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Three weeks after the successful vote of no confidence against McCarthy, the House of Representatives remains without a president and legislative activity is paralyzed. Republicans have 221 members of Congress and 217 votes are needed to guarantee the election, so a handful of them is enough to override their veto. Under Johnson, there have already been four nominations for the office behind the parliamentary group’s closed doors. Two of them had to throw in the towel before the start and another shied away from rejecting the plenary session. Now it’s Johnson’s turn, but there’s no guarantee he’ll be the chosen one.
The drama in which the Republicans have settled shows a deeply divided faction and a toxic atmosphere, in a kind of permanent civil war.
In the group’s first internal vote on McCarthy’s successor, Steve Scalise was the winner, but Jim Jordan’s supporters made it clear that they would not bow to the majority’s decision and would block his appointment, which is why he resigned immediately.
At that time, the extremist Jim Jordan was nominated, but there was dissatisfaction among moderate Republicans about the way Jordan’s candidacy was carried out, even though he had the support of Donald Trump and McCarthy himself, the two people with the most leadership on the inside Party. Despite pressure and threats, they stood firm and, after losing their third vote in the plenary, the Republicans decided on Friday to withdraw their nomination and return to first place in search of an alternative.
Over the weekend, nine members of Congress expressed interest in running for office, although one did not formalize his candidacy and another withdrew at the last minute. This Tuesday the group met behind closed doors and after several rounds of voting in which the candidates with the least support were excluded, Emmer, who received 117 votes among the 221 members of his group, was elected for the 97 of the ultra-conservative Mike Johnson.
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However, the designated candidate then discovered that there was no way to convince members of the group’s radical wing to support him. In doing so, they took revenge for their candidate’s failure, while former President Donald Trump attacked Emmer on his social networks and said his election was “a tragic mistake.”
Republican Congressman Tom Emmer withdrew his candidacy for Speaker of the House of Representatives this Tuesday. MICHAEL REYNOLDS (EFE)
“I have many wonderful friends who want to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly great warriors. The RINO Tom Emmer, who I don’t know well, is not one of them,” he wrote on his network Social Truth, accusing him of being a lip service to Republicans, using the derogatory acronym RINO, Republican in Name Only. “He’s completely out of touch with Republican voters. I think he’s learned his lesson now because he keeps saying he’s pro-Trump, but who can be sure? Has that just changed because that’s what it takes to win? The Republican Party cannot take that risk because there are no America First voters. “Voting for a globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!” he added.
Emmer, 62, who held third place in the caucus behind McCarthy and Scalise, was among the Republicans who voted to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. The former president was not forgiven for this. Other members of Congress have criticized him for voting for federal protections for gay marriage. Emmer also supported the budget extension that prevented the partial administration shutdown a few weeks ago.
With Trump loyalists like Marjorie Taylor Greene and many of the group’s most radical members, the chances of Emmer being elected by the House while the former president opposed it were nil. He therefore decided to withdraw his candidacy, as Scalise, the first candidate, had done.
Republicans met again behind closed doors and, after another round of voting, elected Mike Johnson.
The White House said tonight that members of Congress from the rival party are unable to elect a new speaker. “The House Republican Party is engaged in an endless search for blame and competition to take the most extreme positions imaginable, be it supporting comprehensive nationwide abortion bans, eliminating Medicare and Social Security benefits, rejecting the right to Marriage or supporting dangerous conspiracy theories about the 2020 election,” a White House spokesman, Andrew Bates, said in a statement ahead of Johnson’s nomination.
The blockade has paralyzed the House of Representatives when it has to vote on a $105 billion package demanded by President Joe Biden, whose aid is primarily intended for Ukraine, but also for Israel, humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip and to strengthen border control is with Mexico. Moving forward requires approval from both the Democratic-majority Senate and the Republican-dominated House of Representatives, which is currently deadlocked.
Radical Republicans also rejected Democrats’ proposal to give temporary limited powers to incumbent House Speaker Patrick McHenry, who took over the speaker’s gavel after McCarthy’s departure and appointment. The idea would be that the chamber could function again even if it does not have a permanent president. This could avoid the partial closure of the administration when the budget extension approved a few weeks ago expires in less than a month. It could also handle the aid package for Ukraine and Israel.
“We are still 24 days away from the Republicans shutting down the House of Representatives,” the White House spokesman also said. “The best thing for the country and for House Republicans themselves is that they get their act together instead of maintaining a split screen of arguing while President Biden continues to cut costs and lead the world stage.” But only they can help themselves .”
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