You don’t have the votes: Tom Emmer drops out of Speaker race

Emmer failed to snag the votes of 26 Republicans, leaving him well shy of the necessary 217 votes needed to become Speaker

article-image

Rep. Tom Emmer | Al Mueller/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

In one of the shortest speaker nominations yet, Representative Tom Emmer (R-Minn) will not pursue Speaker of the House.

Emmer’s hat was tossed in the ring around noon Tuesday, with Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman posting on X that Emmer was stepping down roughly five hours later. 

Loading Tweet..

During an internal vote on Tuesday, Emmer failed to snag the votes of 26 Republicans, leaving him well shy of the necessary 217 votes needed to become Speaker.

Emmer’s failed candidacy marks nearly a month of Republicans trying — and failing — to get a fresh Speaker after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the role in a historic vote earlier this month. 

Read more: Crypto-friendly Emmer snags GOP Speaker nomination, at least for now 

Emmer has a history of being pro-crypto, having reintroduced his anti-CBDC bill back in September

“Any digital version of the dollar must uphold our American values of privacy, individual sovereignty and free market competitiveness,” Emmer said in a statement at the time.

Back in July, when Ripple was handed down a partial victory in its case against the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Emmer cheered from the sidelines. 

“The Ripple case is a monumental development that a token is separate and distinct from an investment contract it may or may not be part of,” he wrote.

With Emmer’s short but sweet nomination up, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) remains speaker pro tempore, with no sure candidate in sight. 

McHenry, like Emmer and McCarthy before him, also has a history of being crypto-friendly. 
Despite the lack of Republican leadership, roughly five bills relating to crypto are heading to a full-floor vote, one of which — the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act — was even introduced by McHenry.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research

article-image

Crypto is still on a mission — and still needs users

article-image

After its first phone drew jeers from a popular tech YouTuber, Solana Mobile delivered on its newest device

article-image

Markets strongly suspect that committee members will make the first interest rate cut of 2025

article-image

After four days of deliberation, the jury found Roman Storm guilty on Wednesday of one federal count

article-image

Pendle’s new platform transforms perp funding into tradable yield units — paving the way for a full-stack onchain fixed-income ecosystem

article-image

9.6% of crypto industry employees were paid in crypto, and most opted for USDC and USDT