House speaker hopeful Tom Emmer spoke to Trump to ease tensions as race to replace McCarthy drags into third week – as it happened

Tom Emmer is the current frontrunner in the speaker race. Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

9.02pm BST

Closing summary

After days of dysfunction and bickering that culminated in rightwing lawmaker Jim Jordan abandoning his bid to become speaker of the House despite winning the GOP’s nomination for the post, the party is again gearing up to elect a new leader in Congress’s lower chamber. This time, Republicans have nine candidates to sort through, and we’ll get an indication of who they are leaning towards this evening, when the party holds a forum for the aspirants.

Here’s a rundown of what we learned today about the race:

• Tom Emmer, who is considered a frontrunner for the post, reportedly spoke over the weekend with Donald Trump. The former president’s advisers have criticized the Minnesota lawmaker as not sufficiently loyal, which could pose a problem to his bid for speaker. Fellow candidates Kevin Hern and Pete Sessions also said they got on the phone with Trump.

• Trump seemed to indicate he thought only Jesus Christ could win enough votes to become speaker of the House.

• Hern, who leads the large and influential Republican Study Committee, delivered his pitch to become speaker along with McDonald’s hamburgers.

• The rightwing House Freedom Caucus said lawmakers should not leave Washington DC until a new speaker is appointed. Some of their members were behind the effort to oust Kevin McCarthy from the speaker’s chair.

8.48pm BST

Menendez pleads not guilty to charge related to acting as agent of Egypt

Bob Menendez, the Democratic senator who last month was indicted for accepting bribes in return for political favors, has pleaded not guilty to a new charge of acting as an unregistered agent of the Egyptian government, the Associated Press reports.

Menendez made the plea during a New York City court appearance, after which he departed without answering shouted questions:

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) doesn’t speak to the news media as he leaves a Manhattan courthouse after pleading not guilty to a new charge of conspiring to act as a foreign agent to Egypt. pic.twitter.com/XDO1FsSKxx

— The Recount (@therecount) October 23, 2023

Here’s more on the latest charges: