Republican leader Kevin McCarthy fails in marathon votes for US House speaker, wants to keep fighting
- In a historic rebuff, McCarthy became the first nominee from a majority party in 100 years not to win the gavel in the initial ballot
- After three rounds of voting without being able to elect a Speaker, the Republicans adjourned for the day in disarray
Unable to elect Republican leader Kevin McCarthy as the new House speaker on Tuesday, the Republicans adjourned for the day in disarray as the party tries to regroup from his historic defeat after a long, messy start for the new Congress.
The surprise move end to Day 1 shows there is no easy way out for McCarthy whose effort to claim the gavel collapsed to opposition from conservatives. Needing 218 votes in the full House, McCarthy got just 203 in two rounds – less even than Democrat Hakeem Jeffries in the Republican-controlled chamber.
A third ballot was even worse, with McCarthy losing 20 votes as night fell on the new House Republican majority, tensions rising as all other business came to a halt.
The House agreed to return at noon on Wednesday.
McCarthy had pledged a “battle on the floor” for as long as it took to overcome right-flank fellow Republicans who were refusing to give him their votes. But it was not at all clear how the embattled leader could rebound after becoming the first House speaker nominee in 100 years to fail to win the gavel with his party in the majority.
Without a speaker, the House cannot fully form – swearing in its members, naming its committee chairmen, engaging in floor proceedings and launching investigations of the Biden administration.