Breaking: Kevin McCarthy has lost AGAIN (for the 14th time) after a remarkable scene unfolded on the House floor.
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 05: U.S. House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy speaks during his weekly news conference December 5, 2019 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. McCarthy discussed the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. had predicted that a vote Friday night would be the one that — at last — put him over the top to secure the speaker’s gavel, allowing the business of the 118th Congress to commence.The session began at 10 p.m. local time.
The drama intensified as dogged McCarthy foe Rep. Matt Gaetz skipped his turn to vote in the initial alphabetical roll call, setting him up to vote last. The habitual other no votes continued apace. Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana took the anti-McCarthy forces again to the edge of defeating McCarthy with a fourth no vote.
Finally, with the House clerk returning to the skipped votes, Gaetz too voted “present.” Yet even with this favor to an old enemy, the math still did not work in McCarthy’s favor. He’d secured 216 votes — exactly half. The rules for electing speaker require an absolute majority. For victory McCarthy needed Gaetz to vote for him directly.
As the C-Span cameras rolled, a remarkable scene unfolded on the House floor. No longer content to leave the vote whipping to trusted delegates, McCarthy himself marched up to the bench where Gaetz was seated next to Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. and a confrontation erupted between him and Gaetz.
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