After yesterday’s closed meeting, Republicans are confident that a new Speaker of the House will be appointed today. After Kevin McCarthy was impeached by members of his own party, John Scalise and especially former Jim Jordan made a bid for the presidency, but to no avail. Who are the eight Republicans who now have a chance to become Speaker of the House?
Tom Emmer from Minnesota
Since this year, Tom Emmer (62) has been the so-called majority whip in the House of Representatives, the politician responsible for correct voting behavior on important issues within his party. This makes Emmer the third most powerful Republican in the House. Emmer entered Congress in 2014. In 2010, he was unable to become Governor of Minnesota. Emmer is less popular among right-wing Republicans and Trump supporters because he acknowledged the outcome of the 2020 presidential election – with Joe Biden winning. Only two of the eight Republican candidates for Speaker of the House did so.
Kevin Hearn from Oklahoma
The name of Republican Representative from Oklahoma, Kevin Hearn (61 years old), is also mentioned. He is chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, a position often seen as a stepping stone to a leadership position within the party. Hearn may particularly appeal to Republican hardliners, but he is still considered more moderate than someone like Jim Jordan. In the eighth round of voting for the presidency in January of this year, Hearn received a number of protest votes against McCarthy. It was also a difficult birth for McCarthy in January: he was only elected president after 15 rounds of voting. Before beginning his political career in the House of Representatives in 2018, Hearn worked at McDonald’s and as an aerospace engineer, among other things.
Austin Scott from Georgia
Austin Scott, 53, was named a presidential candidate for the first time last week when he received 81 votes during a vote against Jim Jordan behind closed doors. He lost and then supported Jordan in all three rounds of voting. Scott is a close friend of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and has described the right-wing insurgents who forced his ouster as “nothing more than crooks.” Like Tom Emmer, Scott also did not object to the results of the 2020 presidential election that installed Democrat Joe Biden as president, much to the dismay of Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Mike Johnson from Louisiana
51-year-old Mike Johnson is an attorney and former talk show host. He has been a member of the House since 2016. He is also the former chairman of the Republican Study Committee and is considered a close ally of Jim Jordan, who tried unsuccessfully to become chairman of the committee last week. In 2020, Johnson was seen as a key player in efforts to stop Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Jack Bergman from Michigan
Jack Bergman, 76, is serving his fourth term as delegate. He is a retired pilot and former lieutenant in the Marine Corps. Bergman says he sees himself as an interim option who can “steady the ship” and “win votes where others can’t.” “The regular work of the federal government cannot wait for futile arguments and arguments,” he noted.
Byron Donalds from Florida
Byron Donalds (44) is a native New Yorker and a relative newcomer to the US Congress. He was elected to Congress in 2020 by voters in his district on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Donalds is a staunch Trump supporter and a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus. Donalds is a darling of the party’s ultra-conservative right wing, and he actually received some support in January during the battle for the House Speaker, which was eventually won by Kevin McCarthy.
Pete Sessions from Texas
Pete Sessions is 68 years old and from Texas. Of all the candidates for Speaker of the House, he is the longest-serving representative in the House of Representatives. He worked for an AT&T subsidiary and was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1996. He served until 2019, when he was defeated by his Democratic challenger. He returned to Congress in 2021 after running for office in a neighboring district. In Congress, he once chaired the Rules Committee, a powerful position with significant influence over political action on Capitol Hill.
Gary Palmer from Alabama
Gary Palmer, 59, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2014 and has been chairman of the Republican Policy Committee since 2019. Prior to his political career, he co-founded the Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative think tank whose mission is to “influence public policy on behalf of conservation On free markets, limited government, and strong families.”
Read also.
◀ After McCarthy was impeached in the US House of Representatives: What are the consequences? What does Trump have to do with it?
Revolution among Republicans: The US House of Representatives votes in favor of Speaker Kevin McCarthy
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