Closing Summary
It is now 6pm in Washington DC where Jim Jordan lost his status as the Republican speaker nominee. With Republicans essentially back to square one, here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:
Jim Jordan lost a secret ballot held by House Republicans, which removes him as speaker-designate. Steve Scalise of Louisiana said that Republicans would start over on Monday.
Following the secret GOP ballot, Jim Jordan said on live TV, “I’m going to go back to work.” In reference to who the next speaker would be, Jordan said, “Let’s work out who that individual is,” and added, “It’s time to unite.”
House Republicans have set Sunday 12pm as the deadline to file as a speaker candidate. A candidate forum for the speaker will be held on Monday at 6.30pm and a secret ballot leadership election will be held on Tuesday at 9am. It remains unclear when a floor vote for speaker will be.
Mike Pence has called on House Republicans to “decide what team you want to be on” as Republicans revert back to square one following their inability to decide on a speaker. “With everything that’s happening in the world … the American people are looking to Republicans in the Congress to stop fighting with each other and start fighting for them,” Pence told SiriusXM.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates has commented on the latest House speaker vote, urging House Republicans to “end their chaotic infighting and their competitions to out-extreme one another”. He went on to call upon House Republicans to “join President Biden in working on urgent priorities for American families shared by both parties in Congress”.
Tom Emmer, a Minnesota congressman who is the third-highest-ranking Republican in the House, will run for speaker, Punchbowl News reports. Before Kevin McCarthy’s removal from the speaker’s post, the Washington Post reported that conservative hardliners were in favor of nominating Emmer for the chamber’s top job.
Oklahoma’s Republican representative Kevin Hern has announced he will run for House speaker. Hern, the chair of the Republican study committee (the House’s largest caucus among Republicans), said: “We need a different type of leader who has a proven track record of success.”
The judge overseeing Donald Trump and his family members’ civil fraud trial in New York City fined the former president $5,000 for a post he determined violated a gag order, but did not order him to jail – yet. Judge Arthur Engoron avoided holding Trump in contempt, for now, but reserved the right to do so – and possibly even put him in jail – if he continued to violate a gag order barring parties in the case from personal attacks on court staff, the Associated Press reports.
Donald Trump has made it clear he won’t be at the third Republican primary debate in Miami on 8 November. But he will be in the city in his role as spoiler, hosting an open-air rally at the same time that his rivals for the party’s presidential nomination are taking the stage.
Kenneth Chesebro, a former lawyer for Donald Trump, has accepted a plea deal to resolve felony charges against him. This marks a significant development for the Georgia election subversion case.
That’s it from us as we close the blog for the day. Thank you for following along.
Updated
The Supreme Court on Friday kept a Missouri law on hold that bars police from enforcing federal gun laws, rejecting an emergency appeal from the state.
The Associated Press reports:
The 2019 law was ruled unconstitutional by a district judge but allowed to remain in effect. A federal appeals court then blocked enforcement while the state appeals the district court ruling.
Missouri had wanted the law to be in effect while the court fight plays out.
Justice Clarence Thomas was the only member of the court to side with Missouri on Friday.
The law would impose a fine of $50,000 on an officer who knowingly enforces federal gun laws that don’t match up with state restrictions.
Federal laws without similar Missouri laws include registration and tracking requirements and possession of firearms by some domestic violence offenders.
The court expanded gun rights in a 2022 decision authored by Thomas. It is hearing arguments next month in the first case stemming from last year’s ruling. An appeals court invalidated a federal law that aims to keep guns away from people facing domestic violence restraining orders.
