Deeply divided Republicans fail to elect U.S. House speaker on 6th ballot

U.S. House plunged into further disarray as all House business stalled with lack of Speaker

The Associated Press · Posted: Jan 04, 2023 9:27 AM ET

 

 

 U.S. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy watches and listens as a fourth round of voting for a new Speaker of the House fails to elect him Speaker on the second day of the 118th Congress in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. He suffered the same fate on a fifth and sixth vote. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

 

U.S. House Republicans flailed through a second day of multiple balloting on Wednesday, unable to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker in six rounds of voting — or to come up with a new strategy to end the political chaos that has tarnished the start of their new majority.

Representatives rejected Republican Kevin McCarthy's bid to lead the chamber in three consecutive votes Wednesday, for a two-day total of six rounds, as the House plunged deeper into disarray. All three ballots Wednesday returned the same end result, with conservative holdouts still refusing to support him. McCarthy fell far short of the 218 votes typically needed to win on the fourth, fifth and sixth ballots.

"Well, it's Groundhog Day," said Republican Rep. Kat Cammack, in nominating McCarthy on the sixth ballot.

"To all Americans watching right now, We hear you. And we will get through this — no matter how messy," she said. 

But the right-flank conservatives, led by the Freedom Caucus and aligned with Donald Trump, appeared emboldened by the standoff — even though Trump publicly backed McCarthy.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, a firm Colorado conservative who nominated Rep. Byron Donalds — the chosen protest candidate of the day — called on Trump to tell McCarthy, "Sir, you do not have the votes and it's time to withdraw."

McCarthy, the California Republican vowed to keep fighting despite the gruelling spectacle, unlike any in modern times, that threw the new majority into tumult a day earlier. Animated private discussions broke out on the chamber floor between McCarthy supporters and detractors searching for an endgame.

Florida Republican Byron Donalds speaks with reporters upon leaving the House on Tuesday in Washington. His name was put forth as a nominee for Speaker on Wednesday. (Jon Cherry/Reuters)

'It looks messy'

The House gavelled in at noon, and a McCarthy ally quickly renominated him for the job with a rousing speech designed to peel off detractors.

"Sure, it looks messy," Rep. Mike Gallagher said. But democracy is messy, he said. "The American people are in charge."

McCarthy himself entered the chamber saying, "We'll have another vote."

But the dynamic proved no different from the first day of voting on Tuesday. Democrats re-upped their leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, for Speaker, and a right-flank leader from the Freedom Caucus offered another challenge to McCarthy — Donalds — in another history-making moment. Both Jeffries and Donalds are Black.

"This country needs leadership," said Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, noting the first time in history two Black Americans were nominated for the high office, and lawmakers from both parties rose to applaud. The final tally on both the fourth and fifth ballots was 212 votes for Jeffries, 201 for McCarthy and 20 for Donalds. 

With Jeffries and McCarthy on the fifth ballot, Donalds was nominated again on the sixth ballot, and again McCarthy fell short of the 218 required votes. 

Trump endorsement fails to move votes

The stalemate the day before was the first time in 100 years that a nominee for House Speaker could not take the gavel on the first vote.

Early Wednesday, former president Donald Trump urged Republicans to vote for McCarthy: "CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY," he wrote on his social media site, Truth Social. He added: "REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT."

WATCH | Latest Trump signal could prevent McCarthy from bleeding more support: 

Trump, who while president once referred to McCarthy as "My Kevin," still holds sway with large numbers of party members despite the spectre of legal challenges he faces — as well as his mixed record of endorsements in the recent midterms, which saw Republicans regain control of the House but fail to wrest the Senate majority from the Democrats.

The current president said House Republicans' inability to unify behind a Speaker candidate, which has prevented the chamber from beginning its legislative business, was "embarrassing" and "not a good look" for the country.

Speaking at the White House on Wednesday ahead of a trip to Kentucky for an event to highlight last year's bipartisan infrastructure law, Joe Biden said of Republicans: "I hope they get their act together."

Opposition entrenched so far

The tumultuous start to the new Congress pointed to difficulties ahead with Republicans now in control of the House, with tensions flaring. Without a Speaker, the House cannot fully form — which includes swearing in its members, naming its committee chairs, engaging in floor proceedings and launching oversight into the Biden administration.

Asked by a reporter late Tuesday if he would drop out, McCarthy said: "It's not going to happen."

Republicans Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, seen Tuesday, both oppose McCarthy's bid for the Speaker's gavel. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

It typically takes a majority of the House to become Speaker, 218 votes, although the threshold can drop if members are absent or merely vote present, a strategy McCarthy appeared to be considering. It's not clear how long Democratic members would attend en masse.

If McCarthy could win 213 votes and then persuade the remaining naysayers to simply vote present, he would be able to lower the threshold required under the rules to have the majority. But he won no more than 203 votes in three rounds of voting on Tuesday, losing as many as 20 Republicans from his slim 222-seat majority.

WATCH | A recap of Tuesday's tension-filled session: