The latest on the House speaker race

Republican House members told CNN that their constituents back home are angry about the dysfunction in Washington as the lawmakers expressed renewed fears that the chaos could cost them their House majority.

Rep. Vern Buchanan said his constituents are “very worked up” about the GOP leadership crisis and “they think all of us are incapable.” 

He said “it’s going to be tough” when asked whether he’s concerned it will cost Republicans the majority. “That’s a year away. Right now this week, we need to get back in business,” said Buchanan, who is backing fellow Florida Rep. Byron Donalds for the job.

“People are very angry and upset. I just got back from the district in Sarasota, Florida, and people are very worked up down there about that. They think all of us are incapable. We’ve got to stay here until we get it done,” he said.

Rep. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky said the GOP leadership crisis "shows that we’re not functioning as a majority. And when you lose that you lose the ability to govern.”

And Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana said that while the situation illustrates the GOP is about “freedom,” she also said it shows that the institution is “broken.”

“I think it looks like we have freedom in our party and we want to hold our leadership accountable,” she said. “I think we need to just deliberate until we get a speaker because I think it’s important for us to govern.”

Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said he’s supporting GOP Rep. Byron Donalds for speaker but demurred when asked whether he’d support any of the candidates who are vying for the gavel.

“We’ll see. I didn’t sign the pledge thing that has gone around,” he said, referring to an effort put forward by Rep. Mike Flood pledging to back on the floor whoever the GOP elects as nominee. “I think we need to focus on making sure it’s someone (who's) going to lead this party in the right direction. We'll get in here, we'll hear from all nine. ... There's a number of those guys that I can support on the floor.”

When asked whether Republicans should unite in the room before coming to the floor for a final vote, Roy said, “I think it’s kind of borne out that I had a point a couple of weeks ago that that might have been a good thing to do."

But when pressed on whether he thought there was anyone who could get the necessary 217 votes on the floor, he said, "Well, we need to get in there and do our best to try.”

Speaker candidate Byron Donalds said that “my pitch is very simple” to his conference.

“This is going to be a process where it's member-driven, not speaker-driven. We need to get back to work, secure our border, fund our government responsibly and hold this administration accountable. And, last but not least, our members, we got to be focused on purpose and mission. That's it.”

The Florida Republican said he thinks former President Donald Trump will be watching the process and that he is “going to be happy” with the result.

“I spoke to the president. I think the president is going to watch us through our process. I think he's going to be happy with who's going be the next speaker of the House,” Donalds said.

Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Flood said all nine members running for speaker have signed his unity pledge that they will support the conference's eventual nominee on the floor.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez told CNN's Manu Raju he believes fellow Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, whom he is supporting as speaker, “can unite us,” but said he is willing to back whoever ends up as the nominee. 

“I have nothing against any of the other people,” Gimenez said when asked whether he would be open to voting for any of the other eight candidates.

Gimenez previously described himself as “only Kevin,” referring to ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“If he comes back on the ballot, I’ll still be with Kevin, but he’s not going to be on the ballot, so ... I’ll back the nominee," Gimenez said

GOP Rep. Mike Garcia said the impasse in the House is “dilutive” to the Republican Party’s efforts to keep its majority in the chamber next year.

“It’s not positive, it's dilutive to our efforts, obviously, in keeping the majority," the California Republican told CNN's Manu Raju. He added that "if we can get the seat filled, if we can get whoever it is to put the trains back on the rails again" and start getting appropriations bills passed and avoid a government shutdown, "then we recover from it."

Garcia also said he’s hearing from his constituents that “they want to have a speaker of the House,” saying, “both sides of the aisle frankly just want us to finish this process.”

Garcia said he is supporting GOP Whip Tom Emmer now, but ultimately, he plans to support whoever wins the nomination.

“The largest plurality of folks at least is recognizing we have to get someone across the goal line. I do think there’s an appetite for a compromise candidate at this point,” he said.

Garcia added, “We’re in a blizzard of crises right now, and to not have a meaningful check and balance on this administration is very dangerous.”

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer touted his "strong working relationship" with former President Donald Trump on social media Monday, as Emmer works to tamp down potential problems from the MAGA faction of the GOP in his quest for the speakership.

“Thank you, Mr. President,” Emmer posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, alongside a video of Trump saying he’s “always” gotten along with Emmer. “If my colleagues elect me Speaker of the House, I look forward to continuing our strong working relationship.”

Emmer also spoke to Trump by phone over the weekend, as CNN previously reported.

Trump said Monday he's staying out of the speaker's fight for now. Some of his former and current advisers, however, have been openly critical of Emmer.

House speaker candidate Kevin Hern said that he spoke with Donald Trump and that the former president indicated he was not planning to endorse any of the nine declared Republican candidates at this stage.  

“He just wanted to know what was going on in the race. Obviously, nine people getting in the race. He knew some of us at different degrees and levels,” Hern told CNN’s Manu Raju. “I think he's going to sit this one out.”

Hern added: “So I think when you look at this now, he's gonna let this play out. It's gonna happen pretty quickly. Tomorrow, so let's see where it goes.”

The Oklahoma Republican also said 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 Jim Jordan’s bid. 

And when asked if he regretted his vote to certify the 2020 election, Hern said: “I don’t.” 

He also reiterated his skepticism over aid for Ukraine and threw cold water on keeping the government open through a short-term spending bill. 

“We certainly know in the House and I would argue in the entire Congress Ukraine aid is controversial at times and really would just want to know where the money's gonna be spent and what the strategy is the mission is with the money. We do not need to bog down Israel aid in that debate right now,” he said.

Former President Donald Trump on Monday confirmed that he spoke to House Majority Whip Tom Emmer over the weekend but said he has no plans as of now to get involved on behalf of any of the GOP members vying to become House speaker. 

Asked specifically about his views on Emmer’s candidacy given the Majority Whip hasn’t necessarily been “his biggest fan” in the past, Trump told reporters, “Well I think he’s my biggest fan now because he called me [Saturday] and he told me ‘I’m your biggest fan.’” 

The former president added that in addition to Emmer, he’s also spoken with many of the other House Republicans who are running for speaker. He also praised Rep. Jim Jordan, who despite Trump’s public endorsement, lost a series of bruising votes on the House floor last week in his attempt to take over as leader. 

Trump also joked that the only person who could guarantee success in the fight to become speaker is Jesus, but added he thinks House Republicans will find a solution soon. 

Republican members are returning Monday from the weekend break and will hold a 6:30 p.m. ET closed-door conference meeting in the Longworth House Office Building south of the US Capitol.

During the meeting, members will hear speeches from each of the nine declared Republican candidates vying for the speaker's gavel. 

This is how it is expected to play out: Each of the candidates will have two minutes for a speech laying out their platform. Members will then have one minute each to ask a question and candidates will have 30 seconds to respond. 

It is hard to estimate when the forum will end, but likely around 9:30 or 10 p.m. ET, according to aides. Several members told CNN they are waiting to make an endorsement until after they hear from each of the nine candidates.

The nine declared Republican candidates are: 

Then on Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. ET, the House GOP will vote for their speaker nominee.

With multiple candidates currently in the running, members will cast 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 1.) there are only two candidates left. or 2.) 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. 

As of this writing, there is no time or date scheduled for a floor vote. That will be determined by the speaker-designee.