New Delhi: Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy was elected as the new speaker of the US House of Representatives on Saturday, ending days of bitter Republican infighting that ground the lower chamber of US Congress to a standstill. McCarthy, 57, has replaced Nancy Pelosi, 82 of the Democratic Party, as US House Speaker. Notably, he was not able to muster a majority of the votes on the floor from the Congressmen-elect even after 14 rounds of votes.
In an embarrassment for the Grand Old Party, the Republican Congressman fell short of votes in the 14th round to be elected as Speaker of the US House of Representatives, extending the political paralysis in the US Congress.
As per news agency AFP, the US House Speaker poll became the longest speakership election in 160 years as the deeply divided Republicans took 15 rounds of voting over four days to fend off a right-wing, anti-McCarthy rebellion.
In the mid-term November 8 elections, the Republican Party had won 222 seats in the 435-member House as against 212 of the Democratic Party.
According to news agency PTI, the Republican lawmaker received 216 votes against Hakeem Sekou Jeffries, 52, of the Democratic Party who got 212 votes, in a late-night 14th round of votes that started at 10 pm. A total of 432 votes were cast.
Mccarthy Walks Up To Gaetz Pleading For His Vote
In the 14th round, four Republican lawmakers voted against McCarthy, while two Republicans were present and chose not to vote for either side. Notably, Republican Congressman from Florida, Matt Gaetz, one of his fiercest critics and opponents, did not budge and refused to vote for McCarthy.
A desperate McCarthy walked up to Gaetz pleading for his vote, however, that did not work. Some angry moments ensued between Gaetz and some of the supporters of McCarthy.
In frustration, McCarthy then moved to adjourn the House till Monday noon. However, they had one last-minute negotiation with a few of the opponents, who agreed to flip their votes. McCarthy’s floor managers reversed against adjournment. The floor then proceeded to the 15th round of votes to elect the Speaker.
Spread over four days, McCarthy had been opposed by a group of 20 lawmakers from his own party, mostly from the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.
It was only in the 12th and 13th rounds that more than a dozen of those GOP naysayers switched their votes.
McCarthy Emerges As A Weakened US House Speaker
According to the Associated Press, the turn of events came after McCarthy agreed to his detractors’ demands which include the reinstatement of a longstanding House rule that would allow any single member to call a vote to oust him from office. Hence, McCarthy even after securing the votes he needs, emerged as a weakened speaker.
“Of the more than 50 speakers of the House, 15 have been in McCarthy’s situation: needing multiple elections to win the gavel,” NBC News said commenting on the historic and unprecedented nature of the election of a House Speaker this year. There have been only four House speaker races that have gone so far in the past.
Speaker of the House is a powerful position in the US. The speaker is the third in the line of succession after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
(With Inputs From Agencies)