WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans lost several votes Wednesday, unable to elect their leader, Kevin McCarthy. As Speaker of the House or come up with a new strategy to end the political chaos that has tarnished the start of their new majority.
For the fourth, fifth, and sixth time, Republicans tried to vote for McCarthy as the House fell into disarray. But the polls produced roughly the same result, with 20 Conservative holdouts Still refuses to support him, and falls far short of the 218 normally required to defeat him.
In fact, McCarthy saw his tally drop to 201 because one Republican now switched to voting.
With no quick exit from the political standoff, Republicans voted late Wednesday to adjourn. They will come back at 8 pm
“Well, it’s Groundhog Day,” said Rep. McCarthy, R-Fla., in nominating McCarthy on the sixth ballot. Kat Cammack said.
He said, “To all Americans watching right now, we hear you. We will get through this – no matter how messy.”
But right-wing conservatives, led by the Freedom Caucus, aligned with Donald Trump, were emboldened by the conflict — despite Trump’s public support of McCarthy.
“This is truly an encouraging day for America,” Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla. That said, he was nominated three times as a replacement by his conservative colleagues. “There are a lot of members in the room who want to have serious conversations about how to bring this all to a conclusion and elect a speaker.”
McCarthy, a California Republican, vowed to fight on despite the grim showing, unlike this time around, when the new majority was thrown into disarray a day earlier. Animated personal debates erupted on the chamber floor between McCarthy supporters and detractors looking for an endgame.
The House adjourned at noon, but could do no other business — swearing in new members, forming committees, tackling legislation, investigating the Biden administration — until a speaker was elected.
“I still have more votes,” McCarthy said at the start of the session. “At the end of the day, we can get there.”
Democrats said their leader, Rep. The dynamic proved no different from day one as Hakeem Jeffries was reinstated as speaker, and Donalds issued his challenge to McCarthy in another history-making moment. Jeffries and Donalds are both black.
“This country needs leadership,” said Texas Republican Representative Chip Roy.
This is the first time in 100 years The candidate for Speaker of the House failed to win the first ballot, but McCarthy emerged unscathed. Instead, he promised to fight till the end.
The erratic start to the new Congress pointed to the difficulties Republicans now have in control of the House.
President Joe Biden left the White House with Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell for a bipartisan event in Kentucky, saying “the rest of the world is watching the scene on the House floor.”
“I think it’s very embarrassing that it’s taking so long,” Biden said. I don’t know who will win.
There was tension among the new House majority as their campaign promises were halted. After 1923 the election of speaker did not go to multiple ballots, and the longest and most bitter fight for Cowell began in late 1855 and dragged on for two months during the debates over slavery before the Civil War with 133 votes. .
A new generation of conservative Republicans aligned with Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda wants to promote business as usual in Washington and is committed to stopping McCarthy’s rise without concessions to their priorities.
But even Trump’s strongest supporters disagree on the matter. Rep. Donald, a Colorado conservative who nominated Donald for a second term. Lauren Bobert, the former president, told McCarthy, “”Sir, you don’t have the votes, it’s time to withdraw.”
Earlier Wednesday, Trump did the opposite, urging Republicans to vote for McCarthy. “Close the deal, take the win,” he wrote in all caps on his social media site. “Don’t turn a great success into a colossal and embarrassing failure.”
As the voting scene dragged on, McCarthy’s supporters demanded reservations in favor of the California Republican Party.
“I think members of both parties are getting a lot of pressure on this right now,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. “So I think the message from home is, ‘Hey, sort these things out, we don’t have time for petty things and egos.'”
The conflict over McCarthy has been brewing since Republicans won the House majority in the midterm elections. While the Senate remains in Democratic hands, House Republicans are eager to take on Biden after two years of Democrats controlling both houses of Congress. The conservative Freedom Caucus led opposition to McCarthy, believing he was neither conservative nor tough enough to fight Democrats.
To win support, McCarthy has already agreed to several demands from the Freedom Caucus, which has been fighting for rule changes and other concessions that would give rank-and-file members more influence in the legislative process. He has been here before, dropping out of the Speaker’s race in 2015 after failing to win over the Conservatives.
“Everything is on the table,” said associate Rep. Patrick McHenry, RN.C. – Besides, he said, brushing aside McCarthy. “No. That’s not on the table.”
Democrats enthusiastically nominated Jeffries, who will be the party leader, as their choice for speaker. He got a total of 212 votes.
If McCarthy gets 213 votes and simply persuades the rest of the naysayers to vote, he can narrow the threshold required under the rules to get a majority.
It’s a strategy former House speakers used when Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Speaker John Boehner faced opposition, winning by fewer than 218 votes.
A Republican, Representative from Indiana. Victoria Sports, voted in several rounds, but it did not make any difference to the immediate result.
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AP writers Mary Claire Jalonik and Kevin Freking contributed reporting.
