From Le Figaro with AFP
Published yesterday at 10:40 p.m., updated yesterday at 11:21 p.m.
Minnesota Republican Representative Tom Emmer. JONATHAN ERNST / Portal
Tom Emmer, who was elected to the House of Representatives from Minnesota, encountered resistance primarily from Trumpist elected officials.
This is called denial in the face of an obstacle. The Republican Tom Emmer, who was named by his colleagues on Tuesday, October 24th as a candidate for the office of “Speaker” in the US House of Representatives, threw in the towel after just a few hours, before a vote in the plenary session.
After weeks of trying to find a new president for the House, Republicans, after a series of internal votes, settled on the name Tom Emmer, the party’s number three in the House. But the candidacy of this elected official from Minnesota, the voice of the party establishment, quickly appeared doomed. More than twenty elected representatives from his own camp quickly made it clear during the vote in the plenary session that they would never support him, even though the Republicans only have a very narrow majority in the House of Representatives.
In fact, Donald Trump’s allies are against him because he was among the elected officials who voted to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. They therefore consider Tom Emmer to be deficient compared to the former president. Nearly three weeks after the impeachment of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican infighting continues to come to light.
This is probably one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever seen. »
Michael McCaul, Republican Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee
However, there is a lot at stake in the search for a new “speaker”. Without it, it is impossible to vote on a bill. And since there is no vote on the budget, there is a real risk that the federal administration will be paralyzed in mid-November. Without a speaker, the House is also unable to act on President Joe Biden’s request to send emergency aid to Israel and Ukraine.
“It’s probably one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever seen,” Republican Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul told ABC News on Sunday. “Because if we don’t have a speaker of the House of Representatives, we can’t govern. And every day that goes by, we as a government are basically being shut down,” he added.
Last week, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, an ally of former President Donald Trump, appeared ready to put an end to this increasingly difficult task for the party. In the end, he had to accept three failures out of as many votes. Then the Republicans withdrew their support and announced that they would meet on Monday to nominate a new candidate for the post of “Speaker.” Donald Trump, who endorsed Jim Jordan, told reporters before a campaign rally in New Hampshire that he spoke with Tom Emmer over the weekend but had no plans to endorse him. He said he preferred to “abstain from voting for a while.”
Republicans in the House of Representatives are mocking our government and embarrassing the country on the world stage. »
Sarafina Chitika, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee
This dysfunction within the Republican Party is preventing Congress from responding to Joe Biden’s demand for more than $100 billion in emergency funding, primarily military aid to Ukraine and Israel in their wars against Russia and Hamas, respectively. “At a critical moment when our allies are counting on us to show leadership (…), Republicans in the House of Representatives are mocking our government and embarrassing the country on the world stage,” denounced the speaker of the House Democratic National Committee, Sarafina, to Chitika.
And if elected officials don’t approve the 2024 federal budget by Nov. 17, the federal government will be paralyzed and hundreds of thousands of workers will be sent home temporarily without pay.
For three weeks there has been confusion in Congress about how to proceed. Will Republicans pull a name out of a hat that they can reach consensus on? Unlikely Hypothesis: Will Democrats reach an agreement with some moderate Republicans? Nothing is less certain and the parliamentary soap opera promises new twists and turns in the coming days and weeks.