Key Takeaways:
- The United States Congress failed to elect a Speaker during six attempts in two days
- Kevin McCarthy, the main candidate, has failed to receive support from his Republican colleagues
- 20 Republicans have refused to back him, fielding a third candidate instead
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) —The United States Congress failed to elect Kevin McCarthy as Speaker for the sixth time in a row. Despite the Republicans having a majority, the House of Representatives has remained in a deadlock since its 118th meeting convened on January 3, 2023.
McCarthy served as the Republican Party’s Leader of the Opposition in the previous Congress, where the Democratic party had a majority under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. During the midterm elections last November, he led his party to victory and was poised to lead the House.
However, following several failed attempts and negotiations on Wednesday, lawmakers again voted to adjourn the House. They will return on Thursday, January 5, to make fresh attempts to elect a speaker.
According to the rules, the US Congress House of Representatives cannot function or pass laws unless it elects a speaker. Even the swearing-in of the elected lawmakers cannot take place. In essence, despite election success, Congress remains in limbo.
Kevin McCarthy faces internal opposition from Republican Party
Although McCarthy has received endorsement and support from former US President Donald Trump, he has repeatedly failed to garner complete support from his Republican Party.
For two consecutive days, a group of rebel lawmakers has refused to rally behind their leader, causing him much personal humiliation. The internal strife also comes as a huge embarrassment for the Republicans.
It raises questions about the party’s ability to govern for the next two years until President Joe Biden’s first term ends. If they cannot put up a united face in electing a leader, passing other complex legislations won’t be easy.
McCarthy has a serious internal rebellion to tackle. As many as 20 hardline conservatives are ideologically opposed to his election as the Speaker. This puts him way below the 218 votes needed to win the position.
His opponents have instead nominated hardliner Rep. Byron Donalds from Florida as their candidate.
The position is important for McCarthy. It gives him decisive control in the party and places him among the crème de la crème of the country’s politics. The Speaker is second in the line of succession to the presidency. This would make him the third most powerful US politician.
As a further embarrassment for the Republicans, McCarthy’s Democratic opponent received more votes than he did. Newly-elevated minority house leader Hakeem Jeffries, who replaced Pelosi as the first Black politician to lead either party in Congress, received 212 votes. McCarthy, meanwhile, bagged only 201 votes.
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Winning the speaker’s post won’t be easy.
McCarthy has an uphill task ahead of him as he tries to convince his party colleagues to support his nomination. Less than two months back, he was held as the Republican hero for delivering a much-needed victory.
However, only a handful of rebels, who call themselves the “Freedom Caucus,” have shown how powerless McCarthy truly is. He has already made several concessions to the group. Not only has he agreed to decentralize power, but he has also conceded to give lawmakers the power to remove a sitting speaker through a vote of no confidence.
Their demands, however, seem unending, which may force him to make further concessions. This is the first time in 100 years that the US House of Representatives has failed to elect a speaker in the first round of voting.
Should Thursday’s vote again be unsuccessful, lawmakers will keep trying until someone wins. In 1855, during the 34th Congress, Nathaniel Banks became Speaker after a record 133 rounds of voting. He later served as the Governor of Massachusetts.
With only six rounds completed, this could be longer than McCarthy hopes.
McCarthy receives support from Elon Musk.
Meanwhile, the Republican hopeful has received support from Elon Musk. The world’s richest man tweeted that he wanted to see McCarthy become a speaker despite the opposition he faced from his party colleagues.
However, Kevin McCarthy has become the topic of many jokes and memes. In addition, people are trolling him for failing to impress his colleagues to back him.
US President Joe Biden has called the proceedings “a little embarrassing.”
“How do you think this looks to the rest of the world?. This is not a good look, this is not a good thing. This is the United States of America, and I hope they get their act together,”
Biden told reporters at the White House.
Meanwhile, McCarthy’s supporters have pledged to back him till he wins. We will know if anything changes overnight when they return on Thursday to make a fresh attempt to elect a speaker.
