House Speaker: Tom Emmer drops out of race four hours after nomination

Rep. Tom Emmer has dropped out of the speaker's race just hours after becoming the House GOP's speaker designee.

House Republicans returned to their meeting room to discuss their plans moving forward.

Rep. Pete Sessions said he did not see Tom Emmer change anyone's mind in a closed-door Republican conference meeting as he tried to flip 26 holdouts.

Sessions said: "He did not change anybody’s mind of these seven or eight or nine people that spoke."

Donald Trump has rejected Rep. Tom Emmer as House speaker designee in a post to Truth Social on Tuesday.

Trump wrote in his post: "I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly great Warriors. RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them.

"He fought me all the way, and actually spent more time defending Ilhan Omar, than he did me—He is totally out-of-touch with Republican Voters.

"I believe he has now learned his lesson, because he is saying that he is Pro-Trump all the way, but who can ever be sure? Has he only changed because that’s what it takes to win?

"The Republican Party cannot take that chance, because that’s not where the America First Voters are. Voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!"

Members of Trump's team are also reportedly calling House GOP members and urging them to oppose Emmer for speaker, CNN reported.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that Speaker designee Tom Emmer faces significant opposition that could doom his candidacy.

He added that Republicans are tired and frustrated.

McCarthy told CNN: "I don’t have the option. I don’t control it. Tom Emmer can decide what he’s going to do, but he’s listening to everybody and that’s exactly what should happen.

"Every member is tired of this. Every member is tired of those eight. That is why we’re where we are."

GOP Rep. Brandon Williams of New York told CNN there were 26 votes against Speaker designee Tom Emmer during the closed-door roll call vote.

Williams added that Emmer is trying to resolve the concerns of those members now.

Williams said to CNN: "It’s like Groundhog Day, but I think there is a lot of interest in getting out of this process, getting onto the floor, getting to a speaker, and getting moving."

There are about 10 "no" votes in the House GOP conference against Rep. Tom Emmer, according to another lawmaker.

That is enough to prevent him from becoming speaker on the House floor. Emmer can only afford to lose four votes.

After winning the nomination, Emmer asked for a roll call vote, CNN reported.

This vote will put members on the record about where they stand and make clear who Emmer's opposition is.

That House GOP vote is happening now.

There is no time or date scheduled for a floor vote as of yet, but it will be announced by the Speaker-designate.

Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota has emerged as the House Republicans' new speaker nominee after GOP members conducted a series of secret ballot voting sessions on Tuesday.

Emmer defeated seven other candidates to earn the nomination, but it still remains to be seen if he will have the necessary votes on the House floor to get the spot.

Rep. Austin Scott, Rep. Kevin Hern, and Rep. Byron Donalds have all been voted out.

GOP Whip Rep. Tom Emmer - who is considered the frontrunner and is endorsed by Kevin McCarthy - received the most votes in two rounds of secret voting for a House speaker nominee.

House Republicans are meeting today to pick a new speaker nominee.

With multiple candidates running, GOP members are casting a successive series of secret ballots, with the candidate who receives the lowest amount of votes dropped in each round.

The process will continue until there are only two candidates left or until one candidate receives a majority of the conference's votes.

The winning candidate will need a 50 percent + 1 of the conference or a minimum of 113 votes.

The conference vote is expected to take several hours.

Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan has been voted out of the speaker's race after the second secret ballot vote of the GOP conference.

After House Republicans' first round of voting, Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas received the lowest number of votes and was eliminated.

Six candidates now remain.

Rep. Tom Emmer received the most votes, according to a lawmaker.

Good morning, I'm Isabelle Durso reporting from New York. I'll be bringing you the latest updates on the House speaker race.

Tips or comments? Email isabelle.durso@reachplc.com