House Democrats are willing to step aside to clear the runway for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) to become speaker if they receive assurance that certain key policy issues will come to the House floor.
Leadership in the Democratic caucus told Punchbowl News they believed Emmer to be the best option among the seven GOP candidates. Emmer won the GOP nomination on Tuesday, defeating Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) in the final round of voting, 117 to 97. If Emmer agrees to fund the government and bring aid bills on Ukraine and Israel to the floor, Democrats would be open to helping him by sitting the vote out.
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In doing so, they would give fewer votes to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), bringing the majority down and allowing Emmer to receive the necessary votes to become speaker.
Emmer’s fellow Minnesotan, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), said he would sit the vote out if Emmer agreed to the Democrats’ wishes.
“The dysfunction in the House is a national and global security issue,” Phillips wrote on X, the platform formerly called Twitter. “I would sit-out the Speaker vote if Tom Emmer will fund our government at negotiated levels, bring Ukraine and Israel aid bills to the floor, and commit to rules changes to make Congress work for the people.”
The dysfunction in the House is a national and global security issue.
I would sit-out the Speaker vote if Tom Emmer will fund our government at negotiated levels, bring Ukraine and Israel aid bills to the floor, and commit to rules changes to make Congress work for the people.?? pic.twitter.com/K4VXJIE7aQ
— Rep. Dean Phillips ?? (@RepDeanPhillips) October 24, 2023
Emmer, however, has made it clear that he has no interest in negotiating with the Democrats and wants to win the speakership through Republican votes alone.
There are no scheduled floor votes for the House speaker on Tuesday as of now. Seven candidates went through the conference voting process on Tuesday after Reps. Dan Meuser (R-PA) and Gary Palmer (R-AL) became the first two to drop out of the race.
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Since McCarthy’s ouster, House Republicans have nominated two candidates, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), to run for speaker. Neither has been able to get the 217 votes on the House floor to win the office, so both dropped out after it became clear they were not going to win an outright majority.
Following Emmer’s selection, the conference took a roll call vote to see if the whip could receive 217 votes. However, 21 Republicans voted against Emmer and five voted present. Fifteen House GOP members voted for Jordan, five voted for Johnson, and one voted for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who voluntarily dropped out of the race.
