Oct. 24 (UPI) — House Republicans were again meeting behind closed doors Tuesday to choose a nominee for speaker of the House.
GOP members will hold a series of votes to whittle the field to one candidate to present for a full House vote. Eight candidates entered the day pursuing the gavel. Two had been eliminated as of 11 a.m. EDT — Pete Sessions of Texas and Jack Bergman of Michigan.
The remaining candidates are Reps. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Byron Donalds of Florida, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Austin Scott of Georgia and Gary Palmer of Alabama.
Emmer has led the way in voting through two rounds, CNN reported. He has been endorsed by ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania had withdrawn his name before Tuesday’s meeting.
All candidates signed a unity pledge, introduced by Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., agreeing to support the speaker-designate on the House floor.
“Electing the next speaker of the House will require unity from House Republicans,” Flood said in a statement. “This pledge is a new effort to help our conference put our differences aside and come together. I’m urging all my colleagues to join this pledge so we can move forward with electing a speaker and get on with the people’s business.”
The conference held a forum Monday night to allow candidates to deliver their pitches and answer questions. On Tuesday, Republicans will go through multiple rounds of voting to narrow the field. The candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated after each round.
It is the second time that House Republicans have held a secret vote to select a speaker designee. They did so two weeks ago with only two candidates. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., defeated Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, after a process spanned most of the business day. Scalise stepped aside days later after failing to rally enough support to earn the 217 votes required to be elected.
Jordan then began a failed campaign for the gavel, falling further away from being elected in three rounds of voting.
The House has been without a speaker since Oct. 3.
Once a speaker designate is selected, they will be able to call for a vote on the House floor at a time of their choosing, doing so multiple times if necessary. They will likely take some time to meet with any holdouts. A designate can only lose four Republican votes and earn the majority needed without any support from Democrats.
Democrats have united behind House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. Jeffries earned more votes (212) than Jordan in each round of speaker voting.
