WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans start day two of new Congress just like the first — Leader Kevin McCarthy Despite losing multiple ballots that upset the new Republican majority, he tried to become Speaker of the House.
it’s been 100 years The candidate for Speaker of the House failed to take the gavel on the first ballot, but McCarthy seemed unperturbed. Instead, he vowed to fight to the end, encouraging former President Donald Trump to end the chaos and bring the Republican Party together.
The House of Commons is scheduled to convene on Wednesday After the stalemate essentially brought all other business to a halt and waited for the Republicans to elect a chairman.
“Is today the day I wanted? No,” McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol late Tuesday after a series of closed-door meetings.
Asked if he would drop out, McCarthy replied, “It won’t happen.”
Early Wednesday morning, Trump urged Republicans to vote for McCarthy. He added:
The new congress’s eventful start presented difficulties with Republicans now in control of the House of Representatives.
As election promises falter, tensions rise between the new House majority.The House cannot fully form without speakers. Sworn in members of Congress, appoint committee chairs, participate in parliamentary proceedings, and launch investigations into the Biden administration. Families of lawmakers waited around as their children played in the aisles and writhed in their parents’ arms, usually throwing the celebration day into chaos.
But it was not at all clear how the beleaguered Republican leader would bounce back to win over right-wing conservatives who rejected his leadership. Normally, a majority of the House of Representatives would be required to become speaker with his 218 votes, but the threshold could be lowered if lawmakers are absent or only present, but McCarthy is considering this strategy. And it seems.
McCarthy won only 203 votes in three ballots, losing 20 Republicans from the Republican majority of just 222 seats.
Not since 1923 has there been more than one vote in an election for chairman, and the longest and toughest battle for the gavel began in late 1855, in the debate over slavery leading up to the Civil War. It dragged out for two months with 133 votes. .
“Kevin McCarthy is not going to be a speaker,” declared one of the holdouts, Rep. Bob Goode, R-Va.
Many of the new generation of conservative Republicans are aligned with Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda and want to upend business as usual in Washington, making concessions to their priorities. He promised to prevent McCarthy’s rise without
In many ways, the far-right challenge was reminiscent of the last time Republicans took power in the House. That’s when the Tea Party Republicans brought hard-line politics and shut down the government after gaining control in the 2010 midterm elections.
As the spectacle of the vote dragged on, McCarthy’s supporters begged the holdout to line up with California Republicans.
“We’re all here to get things done,” Republican No. 2 Rep. Steve Scalise said in a speech, nominating McCarthy to the ballot, and urging his colleagues to drop their protests.
Scalis, who opposes Democratic President Joe Biden’s agenda and a possible Republican compromise, said “we can’t resolve these issues until we elect Kevin McCarthy as the next chairman.” .
But a holdout forced a third and final round of voting before the Republican leadership was immediately postponed Tuesday night.
“The American people are watching, and that’s a good thing,” Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy said, appointing Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan to replace him as chairman.
Jordan, McCarthy’s rival-turned-ally, has been twice pushed out of the Conservatives, and he doesn’t seem to want the job. During a debate on the floor, he stood up and urged his colleagues to vote for McCarthy instead.
“We have to rally around him and be united,” Jordan said.
In all, a core group of 19 Republicans (and 20) voted for anyone other than McCarthy. On the first ballot, votes were sent to Arizona’s Andy He Biggs, Jordan, and others, but in his next two ballots, only Jordan got the vote.
The rivalry over McCarthy has been on the rise since November’s midterm elections put Republicans on track to win a majority of the House. The Senate is controlled by Democrats, but Republicans in the House are eager to barely face off against Biden after two years of Democrats dominating both houses of Congress. Conservative Freedom His caucus led opposition to McCarthy, thinking he was neither conservative nor tough enough to fight the Democrats.
To gain support, McCarthy has already agreed to many of the demands of the Freedom Caucus, which has sought rule changes and other concessions to give the public more influence in the legislative process.Conserved in 2015 He once withdrew from the speaker’s election campaign because he could not win the faction.
Late Tuesday, when McCarthy’s supporters and detractors stooped to figure out how to elect a speaker, pizza, chick-fil-a and tacos were hauled into various chambers of the Capitol after a failed vote. .
“Everything is on the table — except to put the leader aside,” he said. it’s not out there. ”
Rep. Scott Perry, R-PA., chairman of the Freedom Caucus and leader of Trump’s effort to challenge the 2020 presidential election, said it was up to McCarthy to meet their demands and change the dynamic. I’ve said it before.
The Democrats enthusiastically nominated Jeffries, who would become the leader of the party, as the speaker. This is typically a symbolic gesture for minorities, but it has taken on new significance as Republicans pit themselves against each other.
Jeffries received the most votes overall, 212, but was not the majority to become chairman.
McCarthy took note of those numbers late Tuesday. If McCarthy gets his 213 votes and can persuade the rest of the dissenters to cast their attendance votes, the rules can lower the threshold needed to get a majority.
It’s a strategy used by former House Speakers, including Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican House Speaker John Boehner when facing the opposition, winning the gavel by fewer than 218 votes.
Mr McCarthy said at the Capitol late Tuesday:
