House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) will not receive the votes to become Speaker of the House, Breitbart News has learned, as at least 12 GOP members have already privately banded together to pledge opposition to Emmer on the floor were he to ever get there.
“At least 12 Republicans are opposed to Tom Emmer under any circumstances,” said one senior GOP source.
“I think it’s more,” another senior GOP source added, noting, “This thing is blowing up.”
The opposition to Emmer, which is quickly growing, comes in the wake of his just-launched Speakership bid. Emmer’s candidacy was launched right after House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) had the House GOP conference, by secret ballot, remove his status as Speaker-designate in the wake of three floor votes this week in which Jordan came up short. A total of 25 intransigents, led by House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) and other establishment politicians, opposed Jordan throughout the week.
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There are growing calls for Granger to lose her committee chair position, given her multiple votes against the will of the House GOP conference and the Republican Party. Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) is among those who have called for her removal. Speakership candidates are expected to all be asked if Granger should be allowed to continue to chair the Appropriations Committee after her intransigence against the GOP. Emmer’s office has not weighed in despite being asked repeatedly.
The next Speakership election process will begin in earnest. Members need to declare their candidacy by Sunday; on Monday, there will be a candidate forum, and on Tuesday, they are expected to vote again. The nominee of the conference — whoever that might be — then needs to win 217 votes on the floor of the House. Emmer does not appear to have a pathway to 217 votes in such a scenario.
If Emmer were to get the nod for Speaker from the conference and attempt to go to the floor, it appears he would be blocked there and that he would possibly do worse than Jordan or former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) did in floor votes. A large part of why that is the case is because Emmer essentially has no relationship with former President Donald Trump, and multiple sources close to the former president called Emmer a “Never Trumper” in statements to Breitbart News.
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“Tom Emmer is an absolute never Trump politician,” a GOP strategist told Breitbart News. “He failed to secure the red wave. Worked for a Soros-funded group. Trashed President Trump to candidates and donors. He is Nancy Pelosi in a suit, but with less balls to do anything.”
A top Trump ally roasted Emmer even more in a statement to Breitbart News on Friday afternoon.
“Tom Emmer has defended Ilhan Omar more than he has President Trump, which is all you need to know,” the top Trump ally said. “If you care about President Trump and America First policies, you should reject RINO Never Trumper Tom Emmer. He’s literally the worst.”
That statement refers to how Emmer defended Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) when people at a Trump rally were chanting “Send her back” in the summer of 2019.
“There’s no place for … ‘send her back,’” Emmer said then, per local news reports. “I disagree with that completely.”
McCarthy, for his part, endorsed Emmer early in his speakership bid on Friday afternoon. That endorsement is unlikely to carry any weight with many Republicans at this stage. Emmer has nearly a dozen other candidates running against him for the job, and if House Republicans try to nominate Emmer in conference, they will likely spend the entire coming week doing exactly what they did the past two weeks when members were blocking Jordan on the floor.
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Senior Emmer aide Michael McAdams went on record to Breitbart News on October 13 to clarify that Emmer was not running for Speaker this year, formally ruling out a bid, as McAdams said Emmer was helping Jordan at the time. Now, though, Emmer reversing course and trying to win the Speakership could put the conference through even more chaos, as it appears he is entering this fight knowing he does not seem to have a path to get the votes.
Emmer is not the only candidate running. Republican Study Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI), Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA), and many more plan to throw their hats in the ring as well.
Even though it seems hopeless given the growing number of members opposed to his candidacy under any circumstances, an Emmer spokesman told Breitbart News he is hopeful he might be able to flip the holdouts.
“Whip Emmer is running to unite the conference and get back to working on behalf of the American people,” an Emmer spokesman told Breitbart News on Friday. “His door is always open to talk with any member who has an issue.”
But given how it just went for Jordan with far weaker members and the rising Trump-world opposition to Emmer, this seems highly unlikely to be successful.