15th time’s a charm: Kevin McCarthy elected Speaker of the House
(Updated January 7, 2023) Early this morning, after a week of the new U.S. Congress failing to elect a House Speaker, Republican Kevin McCarthy was finally elected to that lofty position. The 57-year-old Republican and former House Minority Leader suffered through five days and 14 unsuccessful ballots wherein he watched as a handful of Republicans refused to support his bid for Speaker. In the end, six Republican House members still refused to vote for him; but McCarthy still won the election because those six holdouts agreed not to vote for anyone else – instead casting their vote by voting “present.”
In the final analysis, high profile holdouts Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert never did agree to support McCarthy outright.
They, instead, joined four other Republicans in the 15th and final vote by voting “present,” which helped him clinch the gavel by reducing the number of votes he needed to get to a majority. He won with 216 out of 428 possible votes. ~ CNBC
How McCarthy’s Concessions to Far-Right Detractors Could Transform the House ~ Time
(Update from January 6, 2023) On Thursday, the House adjourned after again not being able to elect a new House Speaker to Congress. That made three days and 11 rounds of voting where the front runner, Republican Kevin McCarthy, still did not have the 218 votes needed to secure the election. “After three days of voting, this is now the longest speaker contest in 164 years,” according to CNN.
The House is scheduled to meet again today, Friday, at noon
(Cover photo, Image credit: Twitter)
(Update from January 5, 2023) In an unbelievable and historic example of political deadlock – within a single party – the newly elected U.S. Congress adjourned on the second day of its new term without being able to elect a House Speaker. Republican Kevin McCarthy, who many thought had a lock on the Speaker’s post, has now suffered through six rounds of voting across the last two days, according to CNN.
Also yesterday, Democratic President Joe Biden called the current stalemate “embarrassing,” and called on Congressional members to “get their act together,” adding that the House’s current inactions reflect poorly on the U.S. The House is scheduled to reconvene today, January 5, at noon, to resume voting.
The drama began on January 3, when for the first time in the past 100 years, the U.S. House of Representatives did not elect a House Speaker after the first ballot of a new House was taken. The newly elected House members are having serious difficulty voting in their new Speaker. The first day of the new Congress commenced on Tuesday, January 3, with none of the candidates for Speaker having enough votes from members to elect someone to that coveted position.
The House Speaker is the political and parliamentary leader of the House. And with no duly elected Speaker, the Congress won’t be able to do any of their work. Every new Congress is charged with setting and passing their own package of House rules. But with no Speaker, those rules can’t be passed. Without a Speaker, the House can’t even swear in their newly elected members.
Kevin McCarthy, the Republican from California who has been serving as the Minority Leader of the House, has been thought to be the frontrunner for the new Congress; but there are enough House Republicans voting against him to keep him from becoming Speaker, according to The New York Post. Those Republicans opposing McCarthy’s bid for House Speaker and voting against him are those entrenched in the far-right of the Republican party, like Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert.
So far, at least 19 Republicans have voted against the former Minority Leader, thwarting McCarthy’s bid for Speaker of the House, while also holding up the work of Congress. Boebert and others have gone as far as nominating Republican Jim Jordan as House Speaker.
On the evening of January 3, the House adjourned after not being able to elect a new Speaker – after three rounds of ballots. The Hill reports that all of the 434 House members voted for a candidate; but McCarthy could not secure the 218 votes needed to elect him as Speaker.
A fourth round of voting is scheduled for today (January 4) when Congress reconvenes. Meanwhile, although he hasn’t been formally elected, McCarthy has already moved into the House Speaker’s Congressional Office – with his detractors calling him a squatter.
(Kevin McCarthy cover photo, Image credit: Twitter)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook. Twitter & Instagram
