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 as the top choice among the hodge-podge list of mostly lesser-known congressmen for speaker, a powerful position second in line to the presidency. On first round of ballots, the senior-most lawmaker, Rep. Tom Emmer, the GOP Whip, was the top vote-getter, but he fell short of the majority and it’s no sure path to the gavel. Others have started dropping out.