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When House Majority Leader Steve Scalise quit the race for speaker two weeks ago, it seemed oddly comical. After all, the Louisiana Republican had just won his party’s nomination one day earlier.
In hindsight, however, maybe it was wrong to scoff at Scalise’s day-long tenure as speaker-designate — because at least he lasted a whole day. The same cannot be said for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer.
As of Friday, the Minnesota Republican was the obvious frontrunner for the GOP nomination. It’s why, when Emmer successfully defeated his intraparty rivals this afternoon, no one was especially surprised.
But the GOP leader faced unyielding opposition, not only from many of his own members, but also from Donald Trump, who publicly trashed Emmer this afternoon.
And so, he quit. The majority whip’s tenure as speaker-designate didn’t quite last four hours — roughly a sixth of Scalise’s tenure.
It’s hard to overstate just how bonkers this is. There simply isn’t any precedent for anything like this in the American tradition. Consider a brief timeline:
October 3: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy ousted
October 11: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise becomes speaker-designate
October 12: Scalise quits, unable to secure the support of many of his own members
October 14: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan becomes speaker-designate
October 20: Jordan quits, unable to secure the support of many of his own members
October 24: House Majority Whip Tom Emmer becomes speaker-designate
October 24: Emmer quits, unable to secure the support of many of his own members
House GOP members look less like a congressional conference and more like the hapless leaders of a failed state.
The funny thing is, Republicans started the day voicing nothing but optimism. Today was finally the day, they said, in which the chaos would end a new speaker would take office. The embarrassment would end. The jokes would cease.
Sure, Plan A (McCarthy) didn’t work out. And sure, Plan B (Scalise) was a flop. And sure, Plan C (Jordan) was cringe-worthy. But Plan D would be glorious. Just you watch.
It is a fiasco that defies description.
As for what’s next, NBC News reports “Reps. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., and Mike Johnson, R-La., are expected to appear again on the next secret ballot in conference, according to two sources familiar with their plans.” Watch this space.
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