Tom Emmer, the Republican Party’s most recent nominee for the open position of Speaker of the House, has removed himself from the running.

Republicans in Congress nominated Emmer for Speaker of the House on Oct. 24. However, roughly four hours after the fact, Emmer reportedly dropped out of the running, as have two nominees before him.

Emmer, currently serving as the majority whip, faced a challenging path to secure the position, as he would have had to seek it without the support of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who still enjoys immense popularity among far right-wing conservatives.

The House Speaker’s seat has been vacant for three weeks following the removal of Kevin McCarthy earlier this month. During this period, two candidates, Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan, have fallen short in their attempts to secure the position.

One of the lawmakers who ran for the position, Jack Bergman, posted on X (formerly Twitter):

“The House needs to elect a Speaker – and Republicans need to get to work. We have no time to waste. As I said before the vote, I’ll support our Speaker Designate on the House floor. We shouldn’t leave until we are confident we have 217 votes.”

Emmer is a prominent advocate for the cryptocurrency industry within Congress. Over the past years, he has championed various crypto-related bills, including a bill that prohibits the issuance of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and another that restructures the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) funding mechanisms.