After Rep. Jim Jordan failed to secure House Speaker following a third House Floor vote, the GOP booted the Ohio Republican in a closed-door meeting.
House Republicans ousted Jordan as the party’s nominee 112-86 in a secret ballot.
The House of Representatives is approximately two weeks without a Speaker, and multiple Republicans threw their hats in the race this weekend.
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy quickly endorsed Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) for the job.
Emmer, the Majority Whip, is the third-highest House Republican.
“TOM EMMER has told members of the House Republican Conference that he will seek the nomination for speaker. The Minnesotan is currently the No. 3 House Republican. He’ll immediately become the frontrunner in this race,” Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman said.
🚨BREAKING — TOM EMMER has told members of the House Republican Conference that he will seek the nomination for speaker.
The Minnesotan is currently the No. 3 House Republican.
He'll immediately become the frontrunner in this race.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 20, 2023
“The American people elected us to deliver on a conservative agenda that secures our border, stops reckless spending, and holds Joe Biden accountable. We cannot afford to fail them. I’m running for Speaker of the House to bring our conference together and get back to work,” Emmer said Saturday.
The American people elected us to deliver on a conservative agenda that secures our border, stops reckless spending, and holds Joe Biden accountable.
We cannot afford to fail them.
I'm running for Speaker of the House to bring our conference together and get back to work. pic.twitter.com/kVFmlQ70PS
— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) October 21, 2023
According to Jake Sherman, McCarthy said:
“He is the right person for the job. He can unite the conference. He understands the dynamics of the conference. He also understands what it takes to win and keep a majority.”
🚨BREAKING — KEVIN MCCARTHY is endorsing TOM EMMER for speaker.
"He is the right person for the job. He can unite the conference. He understands the dynamics of the conference. He also understands what it takes to win and keep a majority."
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 20, 2023
Former speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., endorsed House Majority Whip Tom Emmer to be the next speaker of the House. https://t.co/QQkYfK44jH https://t.co/PtDxsggtXS
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) October 20, 2023
Although Emmer says he wants to deliver on a “conservative agenda,” his track record says otherwise.
The Minnesota Republican previously worked the National Popular Vote campaign “to support efforts to overhaul the Electoral College by passing laws that commit state electors to the candidate who wins the national popular vote,” the New York Post reported last year.
Democrat donors heavily bankrolled the initiative, including a son of George Soros.
Per the New York Post:
About five years after the initiative’s launch, Emmer took a job as one of the group’s paid spokespeople.
“I believe it’s going to end up favoring Republicans … if you believe in our message,” Emmer said in a 2011 video interview posted on the website of Pennsylvania public affairs firm Triad Strategies.
“The current system is not producing candidates and campaigns that campaign to everyone in the country. In fact, they focus on certain areas and the result is not necessarily the best policy for the country,” Emmer added at the time.
David Bossie, a close ally of former President Donald Trump and president of the advocacy group Citizens United, told The Post, “The scheme to abolish the Electoral College has been a dedicated effort by the radical left for years because they want coastal elites from California and New York to decide the direction of America.”
Hans von Spakovsky, a former Republican member of the Federal Election Commission and leader of the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Election Law Reform Initiative, said that there’s a reason for the Electoral College, which forces candidates to focus on appealing to swing-state voters across the country rather than major population centers.
“Anyone who supports the National Popular Vote plan has either contempt for, or a basic ignorance of, our federal system and the very careful structure that the Framers of the Constitution set up to ensure that more rural, less populated states are not ignored by individuals running for president,” von Spakovsky said.
The initiative was overwhelmingly financed by Democratic donors, according to the conservative Capital Research Center’s Influence Watch, which notes a $1 million contribution in 2011 from the Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros Foundation. Jonathan Soros is the son of left-wing megadonor George Soros.
It’s unclear how much Emmer was paid for being a spokesman, or precisely how long he worked for the group. Emmer did not provide the information to The Post, but a source close to him said it was a part-time job. NPV did not respond to a request for comment.
Influence Watch writes:
National Popular Vote (NPV) was founded in 2006 by lottery scratch-card inventor John Koza and election lawyer Barry Fadem to lobby for an “interstate compact” for states to deliver their electoral votes for President to the “winner” of the national popular vote. While Koza and Fadem are both Democratic donors, the organization has hired Republican spokespersons.
The organization has managed to get 15 states and the District of Columbia to join the compact, as of August 2019. 1 Major funding for the effort has come from Koza, Paychex billionaire Tom Golisano, and several major left-leaning organizations.
“Numerous liberal progressive organizations have donated money to National Popular Vote. No conservative organizations are identifiable as having donated,” Influence Watch noted.
“The Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros Foundation contributed $1 million to National Popular Vote in 2011. Jonathan Soros is the son of George Soros, known for financing a large network of left-leaning causes around the world and bankrolling Democratic Party candidates in the United States,” it added.
There’s online footage of Emmer promoting the National Popular Vote campaign.
Credit to Joey Mannarino for digging up this footage.
Mannarino writes:
Tom Emmer, who is running for Speaker of the House, is a major proponent of ditching the Electoral College and going to a “National Popular Vote”.
This is clearly unconstitutional and a completely insane position for someone who claims to be a Constitutional Conservative to take.
Make sure you retweet this video far and wide so everyone can know what we are dealing with.
Emmer is not a conservative. With this position, I don’t even know if you can call him a Republican.
Absolutely NEVER let this man become Speaker.
WATCH:
Tom Emmer, who is running for Speaker of the House, is a major proponent of ditching the Electoral College and going to a "National Popular Vote".
This is clearly unconstitutional and a completely insane position for someone who claims to be a Constitutional Conservative to… pic.twitter.com/1BUrhwREyC
— Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) October 20, 2023
Mannarino added:
Here is another video of Tom Emmer, Kevin McCarthy’s endorsed candidate for Speaker, furiously defending ditching the Electoral College in favor of a National Popular Vote.
This is not a position a Constitutional Conservative can take.
Tom Emmer must NEVER be allowed to become Speaker.
WATCH:
Here is another video of Tom Emmer, Kevin McCarthy's endorsed candidate for Speaker, furiously defending ditching the Electoral College in favor of a National Popular Vote.
This is not a position a Constitutional Conservative can take.
Tom Emmer must NEVER be allowed to become… pic.twitter.com/xkQgOPUwvU
— Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) October 20, 2023
Additional footage via YouTube: