House Republicans plowed through the second day of the new Congress, with no clear off-ramp from their political chaos over electing leader Kevin McCarthy as the new speaker
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., at the beginning of an evening session after six failed votes to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. WASHINGTON — — House Republicans flailed through a long second day of fruitless balloting Wednesday, unable to either elect their leaderas House speaker or come up with a new strategy to end the political chaos that has tarnished the start of their new majority.
In fact, McCarthy saw his support slip to 201, as one fellow Republican switched to vote simply present. McCarthy, the California Republican, vowed to fight to the finish for the speaker's job despite the grueling spectacle, unlike any in modern times, that threw the new majority into tumult for the first days of the new Congress. Animated private discussions broke out on the chamber floor and in huddled meeting throughout the Capitol between McCarthy supporters and detractors searching for an offramp.
“This is actually an invigorating day for America,” said Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., who was nominated three times by his conservative colleagues as an alternative. “There’s a lot of members in the chamber who want to have serious conversations about how we can bring this all to a close and elect a speaker.”
“This country needs leadership,” said Rep. Chip Roy, the 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.that a nominee for House speaker could not take the gavel on the first vote, but McCarthy appeared undeterred. Instead, he vowed to fight to the finish.
Tensions flared among the new House majority as their campaign promises stalled out. Not since 1923 has a speaker's election gone to multiple ballots, and the longest and most grueling fight for the gavel started in late 1855 and dragged out for two months, with 133 ballots, during debates over slavery in the run-up to the Civil War.
As the spectacle of voting dragged on, McCarthy's backers implored the holdouts to fall in line for the California Republican.
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