Both Reps. Kevin Hern and Byron Donalds are out of the speakership race after the fourth ballot, leaving only Majority Whip Tom Emmer and Rep. Mike Johnson as potential speaker nominees.

Emmer has gradually inched closer to the necessary majority threshold to become the conference’s speaker nominee as the day and ballots have progressed. The conference will now enter its fifth round of voting with only Emmer (R-Minn.) and Johnson (R-La.) left.

Republican lawmakers told POLITICO that once a candidate has a majority, the conference will take a final internal vote that asks if members will support the nominee on the floor. They’re hoping to avoid the messy floor fight that seemed to doom Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-Ohio) bid for the gavel.

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