Republicans are desperate to end the chaos and get back to work. Johnson had been the second-place vote getter in a morning round of voting.
Republicans chose Rep. Mike Johnson as their latest nominee for House speaker late Tuesday, hours after an earlier pick, Rep. Tom Emmer, abruptly withdrew in the face of opposition from Donald Trump and hardline GOP lawmakers.
"Pretty sad commentary on governance right now," said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark."Maybe on the fourth or fifth or sixth or 10th try we’ll get this thing right." House Republicans returned behind closed doors, where they spend much of their time, desperately searching for a leader who can unite the factions, reopen the House and get the U.S. Congress working again.
"We're in the same cul-de-sac," said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., the chairman of the far-right House Freedom Caucus.One idea circulating, first reported by NBC News, was to reinstall McCarthy as speaker with hardline Rep. Jim Jordan in a new leadership role. While Emmer won a simple majority in a roll call behind closed doors - 117 votes - he lost more than two dozen Republicans, leaving him far short of what will be needed during a House floor tally ahead.
Having rejected the top replacements, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and the Trump-backed Jordan, there is no longer any obvious choice for the job.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Republicans nominate Mike Johnson for House speaker in latest attempt to break GOP impasseScott Wong is a senior congressional reporter for NBC News.
Read more »
Mike Johnson clinches GOP nomination for House speaker: Live updatesThis is additional taxonomy that helps us with analytics
Read more »
Live updates: Mike Johnson clinches GOP House speaker nomination hours after Tom Emmer drops outThis is additional taxonomy that helps us with analytics
Read more »
Republicans nominate Mike Johnson for House speaker after Emmer’s withdrawal, desperate to end chaosThe House speaker will need to accomplish the seemingly impossible job of uniting the GOP majority.
Read more »
Republicans nominate Mike Johnson for House speaker after Emmer's withdrawal, desperate to end chaosJohnson is the fourth candidate Republicans have now nominated to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy. It came hours after another Republican nominee, Rep. Tom Emmer, abruptly withdrew his bid amid opposition from Donald Trump.
Read more »
Republicans, desperate to end chaos, nominate Mike Johnson for House speaker after Emmer'sHouse Republicans chose Rep. Mike Johnson as their latest nominee for House speaker, hours after an earlier pick, Rep. Tom Emmer, abruptly withdrew in the face
Read more »