Republican leader Kevin McCarthy finally elected House Speaker amid angry scenes in US Congress

The political brawl that paralysed the US Congress for five days has finally been resolved – but only after two Republicans nearly came to blows on the floor of the House of Representatives.

The political brawl that paralysed the US Congress for five days has finally been resolved – but only after two Republicans nearly came to blows on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Kevin McCarthy was finally chosen as the House Speaker after rebel Republicans blocked his ascension to the third most powerful office in the US in 14 successive ballots, making it the longest the process had taken since 1859.

Late on Friday night in Washington DC, Mr McCarthy’s chances appeared doomed when hard-right Florida congressman Matt Gaetz again refused to back his bid for the speakership, having mocked how he “sold shares of himself” for power.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy talks to Matt Gaetz on the fourth day of elections for Speaker. Picture: AFP

Matt Gaetz flexes his arm after getting into an argument with Mike Rogers during the fourth day of elections for Speaker. Picture: AFP

Mr Gaetz was then confronted by fellow Republican Mike Rogers, who had to be restrained by a colleague amid a heated argument.

Mr Rogers said he was “just exasperated that Matt was treating McCarthy so badly”.

In an interview with the New York Post, he said: “I just walked over to the end of the aisle a few feet away from where he was seated and said, ‘Matt, I am not going to forget this.’”

“I was about to walk away when Richard Hudson grabbed me from behind and pulled me backward,” Mr Rogers recalled, although he said the incident was “a big nothing burger”.

Mike Rogers (right) is restrained by Richard Hudson after getting into an argument with Rep.-elect Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy walks away.

Mr Gaetz said Mr Rogers was usually “a quintessential old southern gentleman”.

“I’ve never seen Mike like that,” he said.

Mr McCarthy played down the chaos after finally being elected as the House Speaker, saying: “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”

“Now we need to finish strong for the American people,” he said.

Under his leadership, House Republicans are expected to implement committee investigations into the origins of Covid, the crisis on America’s southern border, the business dealings of Joe Biden’s son Hunter, and the alleged politicisation of the FBI.

Newly elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy delivers a speech after he was elected on the 15th ballot at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Picture: AFP

Mr McCarthy was forced to make a series of concessions to the Republican rebels, including handing individual lawmakers the power to force a vote to remove him from the Speaker’s chair.

The speaker wields key influence in Washington by presiding over House business and is second in line to the presidency, after the vice president.

But McCarthy has been weakened out of the gate by the protracted election and the promises he was forced to make to hardliners, who demonstrated the leverage they hold given the Republicans’ wafer-thin majority in the lower house of Congress. “Speaker in Name Only” read the headline in the influential Atlantic magazine.

The chaos and confusion, watched with both glee and contempt by Democratic rivals across the aisle, could signal years of legislative and decision-making paralysis on consequential issues for the country — and the wider world.

Matt Rosendale refuses to talk with former President Donald Trump on a phone being offered by Marjorie Taylor Greene during the last moments of a contentious debate on the fourth day of voting for a new Speaker of the House. Picture: AFP

As he accepted the gavel in the early hours of Saturday, McCarthy, who was backed by former president Donald Trump, outlined the Republicans’ aggressive lines of attack ahead of the 2024 presidential race.

He vowed to “pass bills to fix the nation’s challenges, from the wide open Southern border to ‘America last’ energy policies, to woke indoctrination in our schools.” On “America’s long-term challenges — the debt and the rise of the Chinese Communist Party — Congress must be with one voice,” the 57-year-old Californian told the House.

Newly elected Speaker Kevin McCarthy holds the gavel after his election. Picture: AFP

CONCESSIONS TO FAR-RIGHT

McCarthy had projected confidence even as he was bleeding votes rather than expanding the base of around 200 Republicans who backed him all week.

His party’s takeover of the House is expected to herald investigations into most aspects of Biden’s administration and his family.

Democrats and some observers expressed concern that McCarthy has offered his far-right critics radical policy commitments that will make the House ungovernable.

“It’ll be interesting to see if he can marshal support for the rules package and other deals he cut with the dissidents who held him hostage all week,” wrote David Axelrod, a strategist to former president Barack Obama.

Congratulations after: Matt Gaetz, Tim Burchett and George Santon congratulate McCarthy. Picture: AFP

Political scientist Larry Sabato called the vote humiliating and said it produced an exceptionally weak speaker “from the most extreme party caucus since the lead-up to the Civil War.” “Seeds of the GOP’s own destruction have been planted and fertilised,” Sabato wrote on Twitter, referring to the Republican Party.

There were reports that McCarthy, as he sought needed votes, agreed to propose keeping spending at 2022 levels, including a cap on military funding that would amount to a $75 billion cut.

Newly elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy takes the oath of office after he was elected. Picture: AFP

That raised alarm among defence hawks pushing for the United States to project strength amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and an emboldened Chinese stance on Taiwan.

Other lawmakers complained that McCarthy was handing the hardliners plum committee posts and rules changes — even making it possible to oust the speaker in a vote called by a single member — that would severely curtail the role of the speaker.

Democrats said the speaker role would be a poisoned chalice, leaving McCarthy as the weakest speaker in modern history.

Originally published as Republican leader Kevin McCarthy finally elected House Speaker amid angry scenes in US Congress