Three weeks now since the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, House Republicans are meeting privately Tuesday to try nominating a new House speaker to accomplish the seemingly impossible job of uniting a broken, bitter GOP majority and returning to the work of governing in Congress.
No candidate is expected to quickly emerge with the majority among the hodge-podge list of mostly lesser-known congressmen for speaker, a powerful position second in line to the presidency. But the senior-most lawmaker, Rep. Tom Emmer, the GOP Whip, jumped out front as the top vote-getter on first and second round ballots, but it’s no sure path to the gavel. Others have started dropping out.
“We’re going to have to figure out how to get our act together — I mean, big boys and big girls have got to quit making excuses and we just got to get it done,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., a conservative caucus leader.
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