And then there were eight: Dan Meuser is the first to drop out of speaker's race

Less than an hour into the House Republicans’ forum for hearing from would-be speakers, the number of candidates is already down by one.

Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA) became the first candidate for speaker of the House to drop out of the race.

There are now eight Republicans vying to be speaker three weeks into the position being vacant.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was removed when eight Republicans joined all House Democrats in supporting a motion to vacate.

McCarthy’s hold on the gavel always looked tenuous. It took 15 ballots to elect the California Republican in January.