Crowded GOP House speaker election gets underway on Tuesday with 8 candidates

The crowded GOP House speaker election gets underway on Tuesday with 8 candidates after the conclusion of a closed-door candidates forum on Monday night, marking 3 weeks without a chamber leader.

Currently, the declared candidates include Republican Reps. Jack Bergman, Mich., Byron Donalds, Fla., Tom Emmer, Minn., Kevin Hern, Okla., Mike Johnson, La. Gary Palmer, Ala., Austin Scott, Ga. and Pete Sessions, Texas.

Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., was also a declared candidate but he dropped out of the race on Monday evening during the House GOP conference meeting.

The secret ballot election is expected to take place on Tuesday morning.

The House has been without a speaker for an unprecedented 3 weeks since the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

A number of House Republicans want to make sure the winner at the conference level can get to 217 votes before the floor vote, which is a tough task given that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., dropped out after previously winning the nomination and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, failed to garner 217 during 3 rounds of voting on the House floor.

The conference had previously considered a rule change to raise the threshold to win the speaker nomination to 217 at the conference level but it was rejected. 

Under current conference rules, the winner can earn the speaker nomination with the majority of the conference supporting them but they still need a simple majority to win the speakership later on the House floor.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., was one of 8 Republicans who voted in favor of the motion to vacate that chair that led to McCarthy's ouster. He was asked who he is supporting for speaker now that Jordan is not in the running any longer.

"I'd vote for anybody out of that room if they've got 217," he said on Monday night. "We've got to get out of that room with 217 though, because we're just wasting our time going to the floor without 217."

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who introduced the motion to vacate the chair 3 weeks ago, said on Monday outside of the candidates forum that "by and large, we had really great candidates and I'm pretty confident the person that comes out will be able to put it together."

Gaetz said every candidate agreed to release the full Jan. 6th Capitol security footage to the public.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who opposed Jordan on the House floor, told reporters that he feels "optimistic that by tomorrow night we'll have a speaker."

Sessions described the closed-door forum as a "productive opportunity for our conference to come together."

"I think that these few weeks has given us a better chance to learn about each other," he said.

Rep. Tom Massie, R-Ky., who voted against removing McCarthy, told reporters on Monday night that there's a good chance whoever of the 8 candidates wins the speaker nomination won't be able to get to 217 Republican votes.