The House GOP picked Rep. Mike Johnson as their latest speaker nominee Tuesday evening, though the Louisiana Republican so far lacks the 217 votes needed to win the gavel – the latest sign that Republicans are still no closer to electing a new speaker three weeks after Kevin McCarthy’s historic ouster.

The vote for Johnson came at the end of a tumultuous day that began when Republicans voted to elect Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer as speaker nominee only for Emmer drop out just hours later amid stiff resistance from the right flank of the conference and a major rebuke from former President Donald Trump.

In the final round of secret-ballot voting, Johnson was elected speaker nominee with 128 votes. McCarthy received 43 votes, the next highest tally, and some House Republicans are blaming the California Republican for undercutting Johnson’s ascent. Ahead of Tuesday night’s votes, some members raised the idea of a McCarthy tag team with Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan to solve the speakership stalemate – with McCarthy returning as speaker and then making Jordan his “assistant speaker,” sources told CNN.

  • _dev_null@lemmy.zxcvn.xyz
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    1 year ago

    stiff resistance from the right flank of the conference and a major rebuke from former President Donald Trump.

    How fucked are we (the US), that an extremist 45 members of congress and a seditious ex-president are enough to bring the entire legislative branch to a halt?

    • count_dongulus@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It’s not 45 congresspeople. It’s the millions of people they collectively represent who put them there by ticking a box on a voting machine. Those 45 people are doing exactly what their constituents elected them to do. That is the real problem.