Tennessee Reps. Mark Green, Chuck Fleischmann out as US House speaker battle drags on

U.S. Reps. Mark Green and Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee both launched bids for U.S. House speaker on Tuesday, but their campaigns were short-lived — both were eliminated during early Republican conference votes just hours later.

Green, R-Clarksville, and Fleischmann, R-Ooltewah, launched bids for the speakership late Tuesday afternoon, after the House Republican Conference's nominee, House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., dropped out of the speaker's race hours after earning the GOP nomination Tuesday morning.

Emmer was the GOP Conference's third nominee in a week, as the diverse Republican conference struggles to unify around a candidate. Due to the slim Republican majority, a successful candidate will need almost every Republican's support to win the 217 votes to gain the speaker's gavel.

But neither Fleischmann nor Green could muster widespread support Tuesday evening during private Republican conference votes.

Fleischmann earned the fewest votes of any single candidate in a first conference vote. The Ooltewah Republican was eliminated ahead of the second round of voting, according to a social media post by House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. Green was eliminated after the second round of voting.

U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., won the GOP nomination just before 9 p.m. CT, earning 128 votes. Seventy-three Republicans voted for other candidates.

"It was an honor for me to endorse Mike Johnson as our next Speaker when I ended my campaign. It’s time to unite behind Speaker-designate Johnson and to get back to work," Green said in a statement Tuesday evening. "I didn’t run for Speaker of the House because I wanted the job. In fact, I said no to my colleagues multiple times. Yet after seeing the House without a Speaker for three weeks, unable to accomplish the People’s business, I knew I had to throw my hat in the ring."

Six candidates had initially announced their bids ahead of the Tuesday evening deadline. Fleischmann and Green faced Johnson, Reps. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., Kevin Hern, R-Okla., and Roger Williams, R-Texas. Hern dropped out of the race before the votes.

Green had previously supported House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who withdrew his candidacy for the speakership last week. Fleischmann had initially backed House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., but supported Jordan after Scalise dropped out of the race. Following Tuesday evening's vote, Fleischmann said he will support Johnson in floor votes.

"@RepMikeJohnson will be a great and strong Speaker of the House," Fleishmann said in a statement after the final vote. "I fully support Mike as our Speaker-designee and will vote for him to be our Speaker on the House Floor!"

Fleischmann floundered despite an apparent appeal to former President Donald Trump.

Trump has engaged in the House Speaker contest a few times in recent weeks, and many of his supporters have even called for the former president to be elected speaker.

Tuesday afternoon, Trump publicly denounced then speaker-designate Emmer in a post on the social media platform Truth Social, calling him "a globalist RINO," or Republican-in-name-only, and saying electing Emmer would be "a tragic mistake." Hours later, Emmer dropped out of the race.

On Tuesday evening, Trump posted a screenshot on Truth Social of text messages purporting to be from Fleischmann that appear to entreat Trump's support in the speaker's race.

"I'm in speaker race now," one message, purportedly from Fleischmann, reads. "Please tell President Trump."

"Voting now," another message reads. "All candidates now 100 percent trump [sic]."

"I preached Trump in my speech," another states.

Fleischmann's office did not respond to inquiries from The Tennessean on the authenticity of the text messages shared by Trump.

In a post on Wednesday morning, Trump congratulated all of the candidates, each of whom he touted as loyal supporters. He asked the rest of the conference to support Johnson.

The speaker’s chair has been empty for more than two weeks after eight Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, voted to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from the post.

No foreign aid, including for Ukraine and Israel, or any other spending bills can move forward through the House until members elect a speaker.

"It will take a unified Republican Conference to secure the border, cut inflationary spending, and preserve the Constitution–these are our ultimate goals. I’m ready to help Mike Johnson in leading us to accomplish these goals," Green said.

USA Today contributed to this report.

Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@tennessean.com or on X and Threads @Vivian_E_Jones.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Speaker of the House battle: Mark Green, Chuck Fleischmann