Republican Rep.Kevin McCarthy’s path to the House speakership is even rockier than expected.
For the first time in a century, House representatives weren’t able to come to a consensus on who to elect as House speaker on Tuesday, effectively putting the congressional body into a standstill until a nominee can get the majority of votes.
As the nation’s 118th Congress convened, House representatives were tasked with selecting their next speaker — a role that’s just one position behind the vice president to succeed President Joe Biden in the event that the commander in chief is incapacitated.
But no speaker candidate was able to reach the majority needed to be elected. Now, the House will hold a re-vote as many times as it takes for a candidate to receive more than half the votes. The last time this happened in 1923, it took nine rounds of voting to settle on a House speaker. Once, in 1855, it took 133 rounds of voting.
Until a House speaker is determined, members of the House won’t be able to consider legislation, assign committees or adopt rules.
After Republicans regained the House majority in November’s midterm elections, McCarthy — who previously served as House minority leader — wasthe most obvious choiceto win the speakership. But fractures in the party began to show in the lead-up to Tuesday’s vote, with many House Republicans publicly voicing their opposition to McCarthy.
To be elected speaker, McCarthy would have required at least 218 votes, with room for only four Republicans to defect. But he only received 203 votes.
The nineteen Republicans who defected split their votes among Reps. Andy Biggs,Jim Jordan,Byron Donaldsand even former congressmanLee Zeldin.
Democrats united behind their new House leader, giving each of their 212 votes to New York Rep.Hakeem Jeffries.
Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries.Francis Chung/E&E News/POLITICO via AP Images
Since no nominee secured the majority during the initial vote on Tuesday, lawmakers will now continue to vote until a candidate does receive a majority. After each unsuccessful vote, supporters of McCarthy will try to sway defectors before voting again.
Since the first two-year Congress met in 1789, floor fights over the speakership have occurredonly 14 times. It’s a process that, as history has demonstrated, could take months.
The news that McCarthy didn’t have the necessary votes to win the speakership outright wasn’t entirely surprising, with the lawmaker himself not projecting much confidence on his arrival to the speaker’s office Tuesday morning, taking a back route to avoid reporters at the main entrance, NBC News journalist Garrett Haaketweeted.
But once inside, McCarthy took on a different tone. Politico reporter Olivia Beavers wrote on Twitter that the lawmaker told his colleagues, “I earned this job. We earned this majority, and God dammit we are going to win it today” — a line Beavers said drew a standing ovation.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.
“We have a new paradigm here, and I think the country wants a different direction from the House of Representatives,” Biggs said at the time.
Rep. Andy Biggs.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
Sensing the uphill battle ahead, many Republicans have openly supported McCarthy — even some of the more right-wing members, like former PresidentDonald Trumpand Georgia Rep.Marjorie Taylor Greene.
source: people.com
