Day 20 without a House speaker, and Republicans found themselves starting over on Monday — bumbling ahead with few ideas about who will lead, what they are fighting over and when they will get Congress working again. Nine lower-level Republican lawmakers are now running to be speaker, leader of the House and second in line to the presidency — none with any clear shot for the gavel. Senior-most is Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the former campaign chief who is now the GOP whip. Late Monday, House Republicans are retreating behind closed doors, as they have most days since the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, to hear from the candidates ahead of internal party voting. For now, Emmer and the others will try their hand at uniting the broken Republican majority around each of their candidacies. Among those running are potential leaders, to be sure, but no singular figure who stands out as an obvious choice. Along with Emmer, the rough-talking former hockey coach, is another member of leadership, Rep. Mike Johnson, an affable lawyer from Louisiana, and Rep. Kevin Hern, a former McDonald's restaurant franchise owner who now leads the conservative Republican Study Committee, the largest bloc of House conservatives. Also running are Rep. Byron Donalds, a Florida newcomer aligned with Trump; Austin Scott of Georgia, who had briefly challenged Jordan with a protest bid, and Pete Sessions, a former party leader from Texas. Others include Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan, Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania and Gary Palmer of Alabama. Internal party elections are set for Tuesday, but with nine candidates it could take multiple rounds to choose a nominee ahead of floor voting by the full House, possibly later this week. Desperate to end the infighting, some GOP lawmakers are demanding that the candidates sign a pledge to back whoever is eventually nominated, as the Republican majority's rules state.