Tom Emmer withdraws US House speaker bid hours after nomination

House majority whip becomes third Republican to withdraw after Louisiana's Steve Scalise and Ohio's Jim Jordan

The Minnesota representative Tom Emmer has abandoned his bid for speaker after it became clear he had no pathway to winning the 217 votes required to claim the gavel. He abandoned his attempt hours after getting enough votes to be the GOP nominee.

Emmer is the third Republican to withdraw from the speakership race after initially getting the nod from a majority of the conference. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio previously launched unsuccessful efforts.