House Republicans have just nominated Tom Emmer of Minnesota to be their now third candidate for speaker. The GOP gathered behind closed doors this morning to vote by secret ballot and choose among seven contenders. In the fifth and final round of voting, Emmer defeated Mike Johnson of Louisiana with a vote total of Emmer, 117; Johnson, 97. Representative Pete Sessions of Texas lost immediately on the first ballot, Jack Bergman of Michigan lost on the second and Austin Scott of Georgia was out on the third. Two candidates, Byron Donalds of Florida and Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, were eliminated in the fourth round. Representative Gary Palmer of Alabama dropped out prior to the first vote this morning, following Representative Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania’s exit last night. A nominee must secure 217 votes on the House floor to be elected, which has proved difficult. There are just 221 Republicans in the House, and conservative and moderate factions are divided over who should be the leader. More than 20 people didn’t support speaker-designate Emmer and no floor vote has been scheduled yet and Republicans have not sent any official guidance about when a vote might happen, although Emmer has indicated he would like to push forward today.
With ten Senators in Israel yesterday, the Senate held just a brief pro forma session, and reconvened at 10:00 A.M. today. The Senate is expected to consider nominations, including the Motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Michael G. Whitaker to be Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration for the term of five years
While the House remains frozen for the third week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, ( D-New York) and Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, (D-Washington), locked in an agreement on Tuesday for the Senate to vote on amendments related to a partial government funding bill, followed by final passage. The agreement ends weeks of paralysis related to this government funding measure after a number of Senate Republicans objected to lumping the bills together instead of considering them individually. The legislation would fund military construction and agriculture programs, as well as programs focused on transportation and housing. The bill makes up only three of the dozen appropriations bills Congress has to pass for the new fiscal year. Government funding expires on November 17th and the House and Senate will need to pass a compromise package in order to prevent a shutdown. The government has been operating under 2023 funding levels for the fiscal year that ended September 30th.
