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G.O.P. Nominates Mike Johnson for Speaker After Spurning Emmer

The selection of the ultraconservative and low-profile Louisianian capped a topsy-turvy day and gave Republicans hope of ending the weekslong deadlock that has paralyzed the House. 

Representative Tom Emmer walking in a gray jacket. The nomination of Representative Tom Emmer, center, for speaker and then his withdrawal hours later had left Republicans scrambling in a chaotic day of reversals.Credit...Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

Luke BroadwaterCatie EdmondsonKayla Guo

By Luke Broadwater, Catie Edmondson and Kayla Guo

Reporting from the Capitol 

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House Republicans chose and then quickly repudiated yet another of their nominees for speaker on Tuesday and rushed to name a fourth, pressing to put an end to a remarkable three-week-long deadlock that has left Congress leaderless and paralyzed.

Representative Mike Johnson, a little-known social conservative from Louisiana, emerged on Tuesday night as the latest contender for the post after Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, dropped his bid only hours after securing the nomination. Mr. Emmer’s downfall followed a swift backlash from the right, including former President Donald J. Trump, that left his candidacy in shambles and the G.O.P. as divided as ever.

But by late Tuesday night, Mr. Johnson appeared to have put together a coalition that brought him closer to capturing the speakership than any candidate has been since hard-right rebels deposed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy three weeks ago. Though it was not certain he had the votes to be elected, he said he planned to call for a floor vote on Wednesday at noon.

“Democracy is messy sometimes, but it is our system,” Mr. Johnson said, standing beside dozens of other Republicans in a show of unity after he was nominated. “This House Republican majority is united.”

The selection of Mr. Johnson, 51, was the latest abrupt turn in a chaotic leadership battle among House Republicans in which they have lurched from one speaker nominee to another — first a mainstream conservative, then a far-right rabble rouser, than another mainstream candidate and now another conservative hard-liner — putting their rifts on vivid display.

A social conservative, Mr. Johnson is a lawyer and the former chairman of the Republican Study Committee. He served on former President Donald J. Trump’s impeachment defense team, played a leading role in recruiting House Republicans to sign a legal brief supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 election results and was an architect of Mr. Trump’s bid to object to certifying them in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

Pressed by reporters on Tuesday night about his efforts to overturn the election, Mr. Johnson smiled and shook his head, saying, “next question,” as Republicans beside him booed.

“Shut up! Shut up!” yelled Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, the chairwoman of the Education Committee.

Last year, Mr. Johnson, an evangelical Christian, sponsored legislation that would effectively bar the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity at any institution serving children younger than 10 that receives federal funds.

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Republicans nominated Representative Mike Johnson, a little-known social conservative from Louisiana, for speaker after Mr. Emmer withdrew.Credit...Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

He has also opposed continued funding for the war in Ukraine, which has emerged as a bitter fault line in the G.O.P. and in the spending battles that any new speaker will have to navigate in the coming days.

In a secret-ballot vote on Tuesday night, Mr. Johnson got 128 votes, with 44 Republicans voting for nominees not on the ballot, including 43 for Mr. McCarthy, whom many view as unfairly ousted. Still, in a separate vote afterward, only a few Republicans indicated they would not back Mr. Johnson on the floor, while about 20 Republicans were absent.

Any candidate for speaker can lose only a handful of votes and still win the speakership because Republicans hold such a small majority in the House.

The glimmer of consensus came only hours after Mr. Emmer’s abrupt exit made him the third Republican this month to be chosen to lead the party, only to have his bid collapse in a seemingly endless cycle of G.O.P. grievances, personality conflicts and ideological rifts. In the past few weeks, Republicans have rejected all three top leaders. The House of Representatives has been frozen for an entire month as Republicans argue over who should govern as war rages overseas and a government shutdown looms.

Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas added, “This is a very sad commentary on our current governance.” “The American public cannot see this and have reasonable assurance that this meeting can be managed. sad. I'm angry. It breaks my heart."

Mr. Emmer's death was the latest evidence of the endless dysfunction of the Republican Party. He started the day with a narrow victory in his party's primary, beating Johnson 117 to 97.