October 24, 2023 - Rep. Mike Johnson selected as next speaker nominee

South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman told CNN's Kasie Hunt that he voted for fellow Freedom Caucus member Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida for speaker three times this morning but did not rule out supporting GOP Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota in the future. 

"Trust is something people are looking for," Norman said, adding that "Tom's honest."

"All these votes go into the equation, but Tom is an honest man," the South Carolina Republican said when pressed about Emmer's vote to certify the 2020 election. "I don't agree with that vote."

Norman noted that Republicans need someone "we can trust" and said "we'll find out who that person is and are they gonna do what they say." He stressed that he wants commitments from all speaker candidates on what they will and won't do while holding the gavel. Specifically, Norman said the Freedom Caucus wants to sit down with the nominee and ask tough questions.

"No," Norman responded when asked by Hunt if he feels pressure to select a speaker today. He argued the position is too important to rush and that the American people are more concerned about issues like gas prices and the border, while the speaker's battle isn't their "highest concern."

The congressman also said that Ukraine and Israel aid must be weighed by Congress in two separate votes, rather than being linked. 

Reps. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma and Byron Donalds of Florida are both out as House Republicans begin their fifth round of voting.

There are just two candidates left: Reps. Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

During the speaker candidate forum on Monday, all the speaker candidates agreed that they wanted to get to 217 votes in the room before going to the floor, a source familiar told CNN. But that doesn’t mean it will officially happen. 

As the voting gets down to the wire, House Republicans will have to decide yet again whether they should stay behind closed doors until a speaker nominee locks in 217 votes, or again go to the House floor with a nominee who has just won a majority of the conference and risk more public embarrassment. 

Speaker candidate GOP Rep. Kevin Hern told CNN on Monday that he and other candidates in the race believe the conference should hold a private roll call vote ahead of going to the House floor to test whether the GOP nominee has 217 votes to be elected. That would avoid the spectacle on the floor that derailed Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan’s bid. 

“I think the consensus is, and I've talked to some of the other people that are running and others that are actually going to be the voting members, and we'd like to see a roll call vote in the basement so that we know this. Because the American people don't want to see another thing that happened like last week with Jim Jordan,” he said. 

GOP Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee told CNN it is important for the conference to 217 behind closed doors because they need to avoid another public embarrassment on the House floor. 

“I do not think it will go to the floor until we have 217 committed,” Burchett said. “If it goes to the floor, it will succeed.”

But not all Republicans are sold on the strategy. Texas GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw told CNN, “it’s impossible” for the conference to get to 217, but added “let’s see who wins. The rebels might be tired.”

GOP Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina told reporters in between voting rounds that the conference decided to have a roll call vote once the race narrows to the final two candidates so members can be on the record with who they support.

“We’ll pare it down And then we get it down to I assume the two, we will have a roll call vote.”

Georgia Rep. Austin Scott is out as the House GOP heads into their fourth round of voting.

There are four remaining candidates – Reps. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma and Byron Donalds of Florida.

Emmer again received the most votes in the third round of voting.

Here's the latest vote tally, according to two sources:

Remember: Members are casting a successive series of secret ballots, with the candidate who garners the fewest number of votes in each round dropped from the running.

The process will continue until there are only two candidates left or, until one candidate receives a majority of the conferences’ votes — whichever comes first.

Here, a plurality of votes is not enough. The winning candidate will need 50% +1 of the conference or a minimum of 113 votes. The conference vote is expected to take several hours as there will be several rounds of votes. 

GOP Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, who is considered the frontrunner and is endorsed by Kevin McCarthy, received the most votes in two rounds of secret ballot voting for a House speaker nominee, according to members.

This was the vote tally in the second round, according to two sources:

Bergman was dropped from the speaker race after the second round as he received the least votes.

House Republicans are meeting now to pick a new speaker.

With multiple candidates currently in the running, members are casting a successive series of secret ballots, with the candidate who garners the fewest number of votes in each round dropped from the running.

The process will continue until there are only two candidates left or, until one candidate receives a majority of the conferences’ votes — whichever comes first.

Here, a plurality of votes is not enough. The winning candidate will need 50% +1 of the conference or a minimum of 113 votes. The conference vote is expected to take several hours as there will be several rounds of votes. 

The following candidates are now seeking to be next House speaker:

The speaker-designee will determine the next floor vote.

Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan is out of the speaker's race after the second secret ballot vote of the GOP conference.

We are now entering ballot number three with the following members still as candidates:

Republican Rep. Rick Allen told CNN's Manu Raju he would not vote for Rep. Tom Emmer on the House floor, saying he’s “very concerned” about Emmer’s vote to codify same-sex marriage in the last Congress.  

“No,” he said when asked if there was any way he would vote for him.

This comes as other members, particularly those of the hardline Freedom Caucus, have expressed reservations about supporting Emmer on the floor if he wins the GOP nomination. 

Former President Donald Trump’s posture on Rep. Tom Emmer has shifted in the last 12 hours, according to two sources close to Trump. 

While there is a lot of fraught history between many Trump allies and Emmer, Trump had privately and publicly indicated that he would stay neutral in the speaker’s race. Monday morning, multiple sources in touch with Trump described him as "uninvolved" and "unfocused" on the happenings in the House. 

That changed Monday afternoon when Trump was shown a tweet from Emmer responding to Trump’s remarks in New Hampshire. 

Trump was angered by the familiarity of the tweet and according to one source, the “deception” that Emmer and Trump had a relationship that they do not. 

“Thank you, Mr. President,” Emmer tweeted on a video of Trump saying he and Emmer got along. “If my colleagues elect me Speaker of the House, I look forward to continuing our strong working relationship.”

“Tom Emmer has not been a friend to Donald Trump for 4-5 years,” a source close to Trump said. “Now he’s painting himself as the Trump candidate or Trump whisperer and it’s just not true.”