Tom Emmer Republicans pick third nominee for House Speaker

Republicans have chosen Tom Emmer as their third nominee to be Speaker of the House of Representatives, three weeks after their last leader was ousted in a right-wing revolt.

On Tuesday, successive rounds of voting by Republican lawmakers whittled down the candidates one by one. In the final round, Mr Emmer defeated Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

Texas Republican Andy Webber told reporters after Tuesday's party meeting that Mr Emmer did not currently have the votes necessary to win a floor vote.

Republicans only hold a narrow majority over Democrats in the lower chamber of Congress, so their nominee can only afford to lose a handful of votes from their own side.

Kentucky's Brett Guthrie said that the continued infighting among Republican lawmakers had left him - and "a lot of people I hear from at home" - frustrated at the lack of progress.

Mr Guthrie said that Mr Emmer asked hold-outs to remain in the room to discuss their differences "instead of having private meetings and phone calls".

Mr Williams, however, said that he believed the party was "actually doing what should have been done from the beginning, which is we all sit down and hear out the grievances".

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