Republicans in disarray as fight over speaker goes to the wire

Chaos marked the Republican return to Washington’s corridors of power after successful mid-term elections when rebels blocked their party leader, Kevin McCarthy, from becoming speaker.

Chaos marked the Republican return to Washington’s corridors of power after successful mid-term elections when rebels blocked their party leader, Kevin McCarthy, from becoming speaker.

After three rounds of inconclusive voting, the House of ­Representatives adjourned on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) without choosing a new presiding officer for the first time in a century, despite weeks of backroom arm-twisting to try to find the votes.

It was a historic failure for Mr McCarthy, 57, a California congressman who has led his party in the chamber since 2014, and plunged the house into paralysis. No business can be conducted until a speaker is elected.

“We stay in it ’til we win … it will eventually change,” Mr McCarthy said, pledging to keep holding votes until his opponents caved in. But their number increased slightly over the three ballots, from 19 to 20 – the Democrats enjoying their rivals’ disarray.

On the first two votes, Mr McCarthy won 203 votes with 19 for other candidates, fewer than the Democratic candidate Hakeem Jeffries, on 212 and short of the 218 needed for the gavel. On the third vote, his tally slipped to 202.

The 20 mainly hard-right opponents from the ultraconservative Freedom caucus backed a founder of the group Jim Jordan, but he insisted he did not want the job. Mr Jordan, who was promised the chairmanship of the judiciary committee by Mr McCarthy, proposed him for speaker in a short speech before the second vote.

Members will return on Wednesday for further votes and the final outcome to the drama remains uncertain. Mr McCarthy is refusing to step aside and no viable alternative Republican candidate has come forward.

The rebels owe their strength to the slim Republican majority of 222 to 212, putting them in a position to call the shots. Mainstream Republicans backed Mr McCarthy’s battle to bring his restive faction into line. “This is a lot more important than about one person,” Doug Heye, a former Republican leadership aide, said.

“It’s about whether Republicans will be able to govern.”

Mr McCarthy’s supporters, who make up the vast majority of Republican members, grew increasingly angry as both sides vowed to dig in.

Many were exasperated that the spectacle undermined an ­election battle cry to put an end to the dysfunction in Washington. During a heated meeting before the first vote, Mr McCarthy was heard shouting “I’ve earned this job” at recalcitrant members, but his switch from attempting to meet their demands to threatening them only seemed to harden their position.

Rebels said they had been threatened with being kicked off committees unless they backed down. Over the past few weeks, Mr McCarthy has offered a series of significant concessions, including making it much easier to remove him and focusing even more of the party’s agenda for the next two years on aggressive ­attacks on the Democrats.

He was originally nominated by Elise Stefanik, chairwoman of the house Republicans, who said Americans wanted relief from the border crisis, rampant inflation and rising energy costs. “The people across this great nation spoke loudly and clearly that they wanted a new direction … to stop this radical far-left agenda, to hold Joe Biden accountable and to save the United States of America,” she said. “Under Kevin McCarthy’s leadership, house Republicans have drafted a bold vision to put our nation back on track.”

Matt Gaetz, a staunch pro-Trump congressman and one of the most outspoken rebels, portrayed Mr McCarthy as a creature of the Washington swamp that the Make America Great Again wing of the party had vowed to drain.

“We do not want to be here. We would prefer to have a unity of purpose, but we will not continue to allow the uni-party to run this town,” he said. “If you want to drain the swamp you can’t put the biggest alligator in control of the exercise.”

There were reports that he had privately indicated he would ­rather have a Democrat than Mr McCarthy.

Mr Jeffries, who replaced Nancy Pelosi as leader of the house Democrats, was nominated for speaker by Pete Aguilar, who emphasised the unity of the Democrats in contrast to their rivals.

“House Democrats are united by a (proposed) speaker who will put people over politics,” Mr Aguilar said.

“He does not traffic in extremism. He does not grovel to or make excuses to a twice-impeached so-called former president. He does not bend a knee to anyone who would seek to undermine our democracy because that is not what leaders do.”

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Republicans in Congress. The Senate also convened for its new term Tuesday, with Mitch McConnell, who heads the Republican minority, breaking the record for the longest-serving Senate leader.

“There is so much unnecessary turmoil in the Republican party,” Mr Trump posted on Truth Social after the house was adjourned — making a point of blaming Senator McConnell in particular for the divisions, and without mentioning Mr McCarthy or the lower house chaos

The Times