US House Republicans to see if Mike Johnson can win Speaker’s gavel

WASHINGTON – US Republicans on Tuesday nominated Louisiana Representative Mike Johnson to lead the House of Representatives, though it was unclear whether he would merely become the latest hopeful to fall victim to party infighting that has paralysed Congress for more than three weeks.

He is the fourth Republican in October to win the party’s nomination for the Speaker’s chair, which has been vacant since a small faction of party rebels

ousted Mr Kevin McCarthy on Oct 3

.

Republicans’ disarray has left lawmakers unable to respond to the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, or take steps to head off a partial government shutdown that would begin on Nov 18 without congressional action.

It is not clear whether Mr Johnson would be able to overcome divisions that have tripped up the party’s three previous nominees.

In a sign of those divisions, the second-place finisher in the nominating vote was the ousted Mr McCarthy who secured 43 votes despite not being a declared candidate.

Mr

Tom Emmer, the No. 3 House Republican

, won the nomination earlier in the day, only to withdraw hours later due to opposition from the party’s right flank.

Like Mr Steve Scalise and Mr Jim Jordan before him, Mr Emmer’s prospects were doomed by a relatively small group of holdouts who denied him the 217 votes he would need to win the Speaker’s gavel.

That high threshold and the party’s narrow 221-212 majority means that any candidate can afford to lose just four votes if Democrats remain united in opposition.

“We have no capacity at the moment to come to a verdict, and that is a very distressing place to be,” Republican Representative Marc Molinaro said.

Mr Johnson, a conservative constitutional law attorney, has billed himself as a bridge-builder between the various Republican factions.

The north-west Louisiana district he represents is one of the poorest in the country.

“He knows everybody very well, does a great job with bringing people to the floor, talking about our policies, and that’s what we need right now,” said Republican Representative Kevin Hern, who withdrew his own bid to support Mr Johnson.

Mr Johnson bested Mr Byron Donalds, Mr Mark Green, Mr Roger Williams and Mr Chuck Fleischmann in the latest Republican Speaker nomination fight.

In total, 14 Republicans put their names forward for Speaker in October.

Mr Emmer dropped his bid after former US president Donald Trump urged Republicans to oppose him.

Unlike many in his party, Mr Emmer voted to certify Democratic

President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump

following the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.

Trump early in October had backed Mr Jordan’s bid for the speakership, but Republicans gave up on his attempt last week after Mr Jordan lost three floor votes.

Before that, Mr Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, dropped his own bid when he was unable to line up enough votes to win the job.

Democrats have said they are open to a compromise candidate who would allow the House Chamber to function.

Many Republicans have said on principle that they would not back somebody who had support from the opposition party.

“We must pursue a bipartisan path forward and reopen the House,” top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries said on social media.

The uncertainty has also helped to push up the United States government’s borrowing costs.

The government posted a record US$1.7 trillion (S$2.32 trillion) deficit for the most recent fiscal year, in part due to higher interest payments. REUTERS