Republican candidates for speaker sign unity pledge to back eventual nominee

Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE) introduced a unity pledge on Friday, encouraging his Republican colleagues to sign on to support the GOP speaker nominee, whoever it may be.

Members who sign the pledge will agree to back the speaker-designee and vote for that candidate on the House floor. Flood said he would be withholding his vote depending on which candidates show their support for the unity pledge.

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Multiple candidates have thrown their names into the race to become the next Speaker of the House after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) failed to gather enough support from the Republican conference on Friday.

Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, who announced his candidacy on Friday after voting for Jordan for speaker-nominee, was the first Republican contender to sign the pledge.

Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA), who lost the speaker nomination to Jordan in an internal party vote, 124-81, last week, announced he would be making another run for the gavel. Scott signed the unity pledge on Saturday.

Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI), a retired Marine Corps lieutenant general, indicated he would sign on to Flood’s proposal as well.

“Everyone running for Speaker should sign this, @USRepMikeFlood. When we came out of conference, I fully supported McCarthy, Scalise, & Jordan. All Republicans should immediately unite behind our next Speaker Designate. No more messing around with the future of our Nation,” Bergman wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Speaking on Newsmax on Saturday, Flood said House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), the highest-ranking Republican in the race so far, also agreed to sign the unity pledge to support whoever comes out on top of the speaker race.

The text of the pledge is as follows: “House Republicans need to elect a Speaker as soon as possible in order to return to work on behalf of the American people. It is time to put politics and personalities aside and unite behind the next Republican Conference choice for Speaker.”

“I, BLANK, hereby pledge to support the Speaker Designate duly elected by the House Republican Conference—regardless of who that candidate is—when their election proceeds to the House Floor. Further, I pledge to vote for the Speaker Designate on the House Floor for as long as they remain the Speaker Designate.”

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Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee from 2009 to 2012 and chairman of the House Committee on Rules from 2013 to 2019, signed the pledge as well, as confirmed by the Washington Examiner on Saturday.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the following speaker candidates who have yet to announce a commitment to the pledge for comment: Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL) and Mike Johnson (R-LA).