Right-wing legislators narrowly succeed in stopping the California lawmaker from taking the speaker’s gavel.
Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the House of Representatives, defeating the objections of right-wing dissenters who had stalled his effort to lead the chamber for many days. It was the first time in a century that a speaker was not elected in the first round.
McCarthy finally won the gavel of the House after 15 rounds of voting, garnering 216 of the 428 votes cast late on Friday. Hakeem Jeffries of the Democrats received 212 votes.
McCarthy stated in his opening remarks, “My father always told me, it’s now how you start, it’s how you finish.
We have constructed our system around checks and balances. It’s time for us to serve as a check on the president’s policies and offer some balance, he continued.
The 2023–24 legislative session can start after McCarthy assumes the speakership and the House begins swearing in newly elected representatives.
A speaker was not chosen in the first round for the first time in a century.
Before the House meeting on Friday, McCarthy’s bid for speaker seemed uncertain. After three days of trying to get a majority but failing, he was negotiating with right-wing rebels.
After a poor midterm election showing in November that saw Democrats maintain control of the United States Senate, Republicans narrowly won control of the House.
McCarthy, a Californian, takes Nancy Pelosi’s place as the senior lawmaker’s successor after she declared her intention to leave the Democratic House leadership last month. Jeffries, a Democrat from Upcoming York, will lead the House’s minority in the new Congress.
McCarthy had already vowed to use his new position to scuttle Democratic plans and step up scrutiny of President Joe Biden’s administration.
The Republicans won a slim 222-212 majority in the midterm elections in November, giving the right-wing hardliners who oppose McCarthy’s leadership a sizable amount of authority.
Kevin McCarthy may have been one of the many individuals who believed this was not going to occur, according to Fisher.
His lifelong ambition has been to do this. He has been very eager to land this position.
At the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 7, 2023, U.S. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) celebrates becoming the next Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives following a late-night 15th round of voting.
A stunning 133 votes were cast in the longest speakership contest, which lasted more than two months and occurred in 1855 during debates about slavery in the lead-up to the Civil War.
Before deciding to support McCarthy, the Republican dissidents made a number of requests, including modifying the House rules so that any member may propose a motion of no confidence in the speaker.
A larger voice in the House rules and appropriations committees would give them more power over the budget of the US government and the selection of measures that can be considered for consideration by the chamber. Details of the potential agreement that caused the majority of them to switch their votes in McCarthy’s favor are still unknown.
Hunter Biden’s business transactions would be the subject of a congressional investigation, according to the newly elected House speaker. Democrats have dismissed this claim as a conspiracy theory.
