On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives adjourned without electing a new Republican speaker to replace outgoing Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi. GOP legislators could not agree on who should lead the thin Republican majority in the lower chamber.
Kevin McCarthy could not obtain the needed support of 218 members of Congress in three consecutive votes and hence was not elected speaker. It was the first time in a century that a speaker was not selected on the initial ballot.
McCarthy stated on Tuesday morning that he did not have enough votes from his Republican colleagues to be elected speaker outright. Still, he vowed to fight to the bitter end in his decades-long quest to lead the lower chamber, which the Republicans seized from the Democrats in the midterm elections last November.
With 202 votes on the third ballot, the Republican caucus leader representing a California district fell short of the 218 votes necessary to replace Pelosi. He received one fewer vote than he did on the second balloting, which may or may not be an unsettling indication.
Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, who moments earlier had urged his colleagues to vote for McCarthy and so did not appear – at least publicly – to be aiming for the speakership himself, received 19 votes on the second and 20 votes on the third balloting.
Andy Biggs of Arizona had received ten votes at first.
Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the nominee for the new Democratic minority in the House, received 212 votes from his colleagues, who appear unified in contrast to the splintered Republican caucus.
The far-right element of the Republican Party, represented by the so-called Freedom Caucus, continues to obstruct the election of a new House speaker, even though the House cannot conduct any business or even swear in its members until a majority-elected speaker is selected.
The House rules do not provide any alternative course of action other than to continue holding elections until a candidate obtains the needed majority through political maneuvering or sheer fatigue, thus becoming a speaker.
Ultraconservative lawmakers have criticized McCarthy for failing to negotiate with them on one of their demands, namely changing the House rules to make it easier for them to oust a sitting speaker, and for failing to specify in advance who among them would be appointed to lead congressional committees in the upcoming Republican-controlled session.
The speaker of the House is the official who would automatically succeed to the presidency if both the president and vice president were to die, become disabled, or be removed from office.
Although the Republicans won a majority in the House of Representatives on November 8 and could make things difficult for Democratic President Joe Biden for the last two years of his tenure, their triumph was considerably narrower than anticipated.
The Democrats could maintain their majority in the Senate and even extend it by one member.
The moderate branch of the Republican Party attributed their comparatively lousy performance in the midterm elections of 2022 to the influence of former President Donald Trump, while the right element of the party blames McCarthy's campaign approach.
