US House Speaker: Gridlock stays as Kevin McCarthy loses the 11th vote
Kevin McCarthy suffers an historic 11 losses in his bid for the House Speaker’s chair, in the longest such contest in 164 years. The House has adjourned until Saturday (AEDT).
Kevin McCarthy has been defeated again in his bid for the House Speaker’s chair as 20 holdout Republicans voted against him in the 11th ballot.
This is his fourth defeat today and 11th over the last three days, with the House now in its longest Speaker contest in 164 years.
It also means Congress is in hiatus, as no other member of Congress can be sworn in and lawmakers can conduct no business until a speaker is sworn in.
After five failed ballots today, the House has adjourned until noon Friday local time (4am Saturday AEDT).
The last time the House had this many ballots was in 1859, as Congress dealt with states seceding from the Union to begin the Civil War. That year, it took 44 votes to reach a decision.
Because of the Republicans’ narrow majority in the House of 222 to 212, Mr McCarthy can lose only four Republicans in the ballot but has consistently fallen short of the required 218 votes.
In 1923 the House voted eight times before electing Frederick Gillett of Massachusetts in the ninth ballot. Before that, all the multiple ballots were held in the years preceding the Civil War when Congress was still evolving.
In 1859 it took 44 ballots before William Pennington of New Jersey was voted in. At the time, states had begun seceding from the Union to kick off the Civil War.
The record was set in 1855, when it took 133 ballots to vote in Nathaniel Banks of Massachuesetts.
Mr McCarthy lost three ballots on both Wednesday and Thursday local time. The Democrats have united around their candidate, Hakeem Jeffries, who has received 212 votes at each ballot.
McCarthy loses 11th ballot
Kevin McCarthy has lost hid bid for the Speaker’s chair for the eleventh time in three days as the Republican holdouts dig in against him.
Of the 20 Republicans who voted against the California Republican, seven voted for Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, one voted for former President Donald Trump and 12 voted for Byron Donalds of Florida. Victoria Spartz of Indiana voted present. All 212 Democrats voted for Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
Mr McCarthy and some of his detractors appeared to be coalescing around a deal, stepping up the pace of discussion as the House held its third day of votes with no winner. While most Republicans backed Mr McCarthy, it wasn’t known if enough detractors would potentially change their votes to give Mr. McCarthy the gavel.
‘More optimistic than in days’
While voting played out for a seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th time in a now-familiar script in the House chamber, negotiators were meeting a floor below, where holdouts and Mr. McCarthy and his allies were huddling. Lawmakers leaving the office of incoming Majority Whip Tom Emmer said they were reviewing the text of a proposed agreement.
“We’re still working -- that’s a good sign,” said Chip Roy (R., Texas) as he headed back into the office after casting a vote opposing Mr. McCarthy on the ninth ballot. Mr. McCarthy had set low expectations for the day’s votes but said the talks were productive and that he would eventually prevail.
“We’re going in for another round -- that’s the only progress I see,” said Scott Perry (R., Pa.), the head of the hard-line Freedom Caucus and a McCarthy opponent, accompanied by Rep.-elect Andy Ogles (R., Tenn.). Earlier, Mr. Perry had seethed over what he said were leaks of talks the previous evening, which he termed a betrayal.
“I am more optimistic at this moment than I have been in days,” said Patrick McHenry (R., N.C.), a McCarthy ally who has been involved in the talks.
McCarthy on target to lose 11th vote
Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become House Speaker is set to fail for the 11th time after five Republicans voted against him.
Mr McCarthy can spare no more than four Republican defections if all lawmakers vote for a candidate and Democrats continue to vote for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
GOP dissenters have voted for Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma and former President Donald Trump during the 10th round of voting.
‘Tell people we're not moving’
The House is pushing on with its attempt to choose a Speaker of the House, going to a fifth vote today - and an 11 vote overall - with both sides refusing to budge.
Tom Cole of Oklahoma, an ally of Kevin McCarthy, dismissed the idea that Republicans may turn to GOP Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana or another alternative after 10 successive losses for Mr. McCarthy over three days.
“Ninety percent of this conference has made it clear who they support over and over and over again,” Mr. Cole said. “And the opposition hasn’t been able to produce a credible alternative. Hasn’t nominated one, hasn’t advanced one. And frankly, I think most of the credible alternatives don’t want to be associated with this. So you know, this is just an act. It’s a temper tantrum.”
He added: “I don’t know how many times you have to tell people we’re not moving. This is the guy that got us here, and we don’t intend to leave Moses on the other side of the river. He’s coming with us.”
Matt Gaetz, one of Mr McCarhty’s strongest opponents, nominated former President Donald Trump in the 11th round.
“I have heard from my colleagues about all the important work we have to do, and it is my sincere fear that if we were to allow Mr. McCarthy to assume the speakership, that would not get done — that it would be business as usual and the very same things that have paralyzed progress for both parties would continue to shackle us to never-ending failure,” Mr Gaetz said.
McCarthy loses 10th ballot
Another defeat for Kevin McCarthy, who achieved 201 votes - again falling short of the 218 he needs to get him over the line.
There were 212 votes for Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, 13 votes for Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida and seven for GOP Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma.
Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana again voted present.
The numbers of those voting against Mr. McCarthy didn’t change.
The effort to elect a speaker has now surpassed the mark set in 1923, when it took nine ballots over three days, the last time a speaker wasn’t elected on the first ballot. The record for the longest vote was set in the decade before the Civil War, taking 133 rounds over two months.
McCarthy set to lose 10th ballot
More than five Republicans have voted against Kevin McCarthy in the 10th ballot, marking a historic defeat with the House now in its longest Speaker contest in 164 years.
The last time the House had this many ballots was in the Congress during which states seceded from the Union to begin the Civil War.
Because of the Republicans’ narrow majority in the House of 222 to 212, Mr McCarthy can lose only four Republicans in the ballot but has consistently fallen short of the required 218 votes.
In the ninth ballot he received 200 votes.
McCarthy loses 9th votes, heads to 10th
Once more Kevin McCarthy has failed to reach his target of 218 votes to win the ninth ballot. We’re now into the 10th vote and the longest Speaker contest in 164 years.
Mr McCarthy received 200 votes in the ninth ballot, as once again the 20 staunch opponents voted against him. His Republican opponent Byron Donalds received 17 votes while Kevin Hern, newly nominated this morning, received three.
Nominating Mr McCarthy for the 10th vote, Rep Juan Ciscomani of Arizona said Mr McCarthy “cares about the American people. He cares about our country.”
“That has been laid out in his commitment to America. To fight for an economy that is strong, a nation that is safe, a future that is built on freedom, and a government that is accountable. This I can strongly get behind,” he said.
‘Miles to go’ before deadlock breaks
Some Republicans are admitting there are still “miles to go” in negotiations before a Speaker can be nominated, CNN reports.
Leaving a meeting about the standoff, Rep. Patrick McHenry told reporters the latest talks with Mr McCarthy’s team are “the most hopeful set of conversations we’ve had in weeks.”
“I think we have the right contours that enable us to get Kevin McCarthy to have a majority vote,” he said.
Asked how many more ballots it could take to get there, Mr McHenry replied: “It’s still in process. We still have miles to go.”
Don Bacon of Nebraska, a Kevin McCarthy supporter, agreed the speaker vote process could go on “for a long time.”
“These folks do not know how to get to yes. They’ve been offered every concession, or met every concession. They just don’t know how to get to yes. It’s an embarrassment to them, our party, the House and our country. I think there is totalitarian states out there, look at those 20 and say this is why we don’t want democracy. That’s an embarrassment. ... We’re going to be doing this for a long time,” he said.
He added: “We cannot allow 20 people to hold us hostage, act as political terrorists. ... There is a large group that are in this until the end. And I believe that Kevin McCarthy is not going to back down.”
Mr Bacon also suggested that Republicans could work with Democrats to find a solution.
“We need to consider at some point how we’re going to work across the aisle if this small group will not cooperate. There is some concessions that the other side will want and there may be some grounds that we can provide a more bipartisan structure in this House and eventually get to 218,” he said.
McCarthy set to lose ninth ballot
Kevin McCarthy is on target once again to lose the ballot, with more than five Republicans opposing his ninth bid for the Speaker’s chair.
This surpasses the ballot count of 1923, when a speaker was nominated on the ninth vote.
A tenth round of voting would be the longest Speaker contest in 164 years.
Two alternatives to McCarthy nominated
Lauren Boebert has formally nominated Kevin Hern, an Oklahoma Republican and former businessman.
She implored her party to move away from Mr. McCarthy, noting that the dynamics of recent days had solidified opposition to Mr. McCarthy.
“We had the votes for him, I cannot offer those anymore,” she said. “It is not happening”
She said Mr. Hern could be a consensus candidate.
“We need to get to a point where we start evaluating what life after Kevin McCarthy looks like,” she said. She told members to stand strong. “Don’t be afraid to do the right thing. I believe Kevin Hern is a unifier.”
Mr. Hern received two votes on the eighth ballot.
Matt Rosendale nominated Byron Donalds, saying that Congress has done more debating on the floor in the past few days than they have his entire time in Congress. He was elected in 2020.Debate is often a formality in Congress -- the bills are already baked and amendments are very rarely allowed, an issue for which Mr. McCarthy’s detractors are fighting. They want more negotiations to occur on the floor and in committees, instead of having bills mostly written by leadership.
Who are McCarthy’s opponents?
While the McCarthy holdouts have no formal leader, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Byron Donalds of Florida and Chip Roy of Texas have become key negotiators with Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) and his allies in his bid to be speaker, and their votes are seen as being in play.
They’ve said they could bring as many as ten Republicans with them, if they can extract enough concessions.
Should he win over a dozen or more holdouts, Mr McCarthy would still need some detractors to switch their votes to “present” in order to have the correct balance of all those voting by a candidate by name to win.
The hardest votes to turn will likely be the original five “no” votes, who came out in November against Mr. McCarthy. Their opposition is due, in part, to long-held conflicts with Mr. McCarthy. Those lawmakers are Reps. Bob Good of Virginia, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Matt Rosendale of Montana and Ralph Norman of South Carolina.
McCarthy loses eighth vote
Kevin McCarthy made no progress in his effort to be speaker in the eighth round of voting.
The California Republican won 201 votes, losing 20 Republicans with another voting present. Some of his opponents changed who they voted for, adding Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern into the mix along with Byron Donalds of Florida and former President Donald Trump. However, the number of opponents remained the same as the previous five votes.
Mr. Donalds voted for himself, Mr. Hern voted for Mr. McCarthy.
One of Mr McCarthy’s supporters told CNN Mr McCarthy was “still standing” as much because of a loathing of his opponents as for any true support.
“It’s ironic McCarthy is still standing — not because of any great love for him, but because of burning hatred for [Rep. Matt] Gaetz and his gang,” the supporter said.
Former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told the broadcaster the deadlock showed “the Republican Party continues to be a deeply divided party ...with some very willful members who would rather obstruct than create or be constructive.”
‘Never Kevin’ group have another Kevin
We have a newcomer to the speaker vote series: Kevin Hern.
So far, he’s received two votes, from Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Josh Brecheen, a freshman from Oklahoma.
Asked by reporters if he was interested in the job, Mr. Hern said it would be something he’d have to consider and pray about.
Mr. Hern is from Oklahoma and will be the chair of the Republican Study Committee this Congress. It is a group of about 170 Republicans who take consensus policy positions on key issues. The sizable block means that Mr. Hern already has a powerful voice in Congress. It also means he’s well-liked by many of his peers.
Mr. Hern, 61 years old, was a businessman before coming to Congress. In 1997, he sold his farm to buy his first McDonald’s restaurant in North Little Rock, Ark. In 1999, he purchased two McDonald’s restaurants in Muskogee, Okla., moving his family to the Sooner State. He eventually owned 24 McDonald’s restaurants and has served in various positions with the company.
His favorite McDonald’s food item is a McGriddle, and his spokeswoman said the ice-cream machines always worked in his restaurants.
He was elected to Congress in 2018, and has a position on the powerful Ways and Means Committee.
McCarthy on track to lose eighth ballot
Kevin McCarthy appears on track to lose the eighth ballot.
If all Democrats continue to vote for Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.), Mr. McCarthy will have surpassed the four votes he is able to lose.
Andrew Clyde of Georgia was the fifth GOP “no” vote for Mr. McCarthy.
Some Republicans have voted for Kevin Hern, chair of the Republican Study Committee, who is a McCarthy supporter.
A defiant Mr McCarthy acknowledged he would continue to face opposition until he reached a deal with his detractors.
“It’s all going to be this way until an agreement comes,” he told CNN. “It’s easier if we’re able to all get an agreement together.”
Asked by CNN at what point will he realise the outcome won’t change, Mr McCarthy said: “After I win.”
‘Withdraw or we’ll construct straitjacket’
As an eighth round of voting began, Matt Gaetz, one of the Kevin McCarthy holdouts, told reporters the vote for speakership could end in two ways.
“Either Kevin McCarthy withdraws from the race, or we construct a straitjacket that he is unable to evade,” Mr Gaetz said, according to CNN.
In the seventh ballot, Mr Gaetz showed his staunch opposition to Mr McCarthy by voting for Donald Trump.
Victoria Spartz, who voted for Mr McCarthy initially but changed to vote present (abstain) on Wednesday, has told reporters she abstained on the seventh ballot because the talks with the McCarthy opponents have not made progress. She said he needs to “move the needle” first.
‘I fear we don’t live up to sacrifices of others’
Brian Mast of Florida nominated . Kein McCarthy for the eight round of voting.
Mr. Mast, who lost both his legs while serving in Afghanistan, grew emotional as he said: “We have so many in this body that gave so much, sacrificed so much to support and defend the constitution of our United States. And I fear that we don’t live up to what some of our friends and brothers and sisters in arms have very literally given their lives for.” That comment drew widespread applause.
He said there is much that needs to be changed in Congress, but it “can’t be fixed by our friend Andy, or our friend Kevin, or our friend Jim, or our friend Byron. That comes from within each of us to change.”
McCarthy loses seventh ballot, goes into eighth vote
Kevin McCarthy’s opponents in his bid to be House speaker held their ground in a fresh round of voting Thursday afternoon (Friday morning AEDT).
While most Republicans continued to back Mr McCarthy, 20 declined to support him, instead voting for Byron Donalds of Florida, with one vote for former President Donald Trump, a day after he implored them to back Mr. McCarthy.
All Democrats backed their pick, Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
Victoria Spartz (R., Ind.) voted present, as she had in the votes on Wednesday.
Almost immediately after the results of the seventh ballot were read, Mr McCarthy was nominated for an eighth vote.
McCarthy opponent Gaetz votes for Trump
In a sign of the vehemence of opposition to Mr McCarthy, one of his main detractors, Matt Gaetz, voted for former President Donald Trump. While unconventional, voting for someone who isn’t a member of theHouse isn’t forbidden. Members can vote for anyone they choose, and they can protest by skipping the vote or voting “present” - which means abstaining.
Mr Gaetz’s move doesn’t change the math for Mr McCarthy, who is already falling short in this seventh ballot of the number of Republican votes needed to lock in a victory. But it does add a ripple: Mr Trump recently said on that House Republicans should support Mr. McCarthy.
Mr Trump had issued a statement on Wednesday morning imploring holdout Republicans to back Mr McCarthy, but his call was ignored by the dissidents.
“Sad! This changes neither my view of McCarthy nor Trump nor my vote,” said Mr Gaetz, a Trump ally.
‘Keep working until we solve it’
Kevin McCarthy earlier acknowledged to reporters that the seventh ballot probably wouldn’t go his way.
“We’re just gonna keep working until we solve it,” he told reporters, before acknowledging the movement wasn’t happening in the immediate term. “Look we’re going to go in here we’re going to have votes nothing is going to change,” he said ahead of the House gathering for the third day. “What we’re doing is having really good progress and conversation.”
Nominating Mr McCarthy shortly after the House resumed, John James said: “Issues that divide us today are much less severe that they were in 1856, in fact there’s far more that unite us, than divide us, regardless of our political party of ideology
“The issues today are over a few rules and personalities. While the issues at that time were about slavery and whether the value of a man who looks like me was 60 per cent or 100 per cent of a human being,” he added.
Byron Donalds, nominated by Mr McCarthy’s opponents on Thursday (AEDT) was nominated again.
“Yesterday, we could have elected the first Black speaker of the United States House of Representatives,” Dan Bishop claimed in his nomination speech.
The entire House Democratic caucus stood up to applaud, yanking the moment away from Mr. Bishop by nodding to the fact that their leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.), is the first Black leader of one of the major party conferences or caucuses in Congress
‘No deal, but a lot of progress’
The discussions between the California Republican’s allies and his opponents heated up after Mr. McCarthy didn’t reach the majority in three series of votes for the speaker post Tuesday, nor another three Wednesday, (Wednesday and Thursday AEDT) deepening doubts about his prospects and fuelling talk of alternatives.
“No deal yet, but a lot of progress,” Mr. McCarthy said as he left a meeting late Wednesday. The House adjourned in the evening instead of taking more votes, with both sides signalling progress had been made in talks.
The fresh offer from Mr. McCarthy included changing rules to allow for one Republican member to call a vote to oust the speaker, down from the threshold of five that Mr. McCarthy had previously agreed to, according to two people familiar with the matter. In the previous Congress, only party leaders could bring such a motion, called a motion to vacate.
There was also an agreement to place more members of the House Freedom Caucus, which counts many McCarthy detractors among its ranks, on powerful committees, according to the two people.
The offer also included a promise to bring up for a vote a controversial border plan and a term limit requirement, the people said. Representatives for Mr. McCarthy didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Even with the new offer, it wasn’t clear if enough of Mr. McCarthy’s detractors would support him, or if the concessions could backfire by weakening the eventual speaker winner. Twenty GOP politicians voted against Mr. McCarthy on Wednesday, but he can spare no more than four Republican defections if all politicians vote for a candidate and Democrats continue to stay united behind Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
Coming out of a meeting of detractors Thursday morning that lasted several hours, Rep. Bob Good of Virginia said he would not be changing his mind. “You’ll never have to ask me again.” But some others appeared softer. “It’s a dynamic situation,” said another McCarthy critic, Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina. He declined to say if Mr. McCarthy’s offer was enough to win him over. Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona said he had an open mind.
Some informal conversations between Democrats and centrist Republicans were happening about potential paths for a coalition government, two people familiar with the matter said. However, the talks were in the early stages and didn’t appear to have been blessed by leadership in either party. Mr. Jeffries, the Democrats’ minority leader, asked by reporters if there was a formal discussion under way, said: “Short answer: no.” Mr. McCarthy’s efforts remained focused on winning over his GOP detractors.
Because Republicans have such a narrow majority over Democrats — 222 to 212, with one vacancy — Mr. McCarthy needs almost unanimous support from his party. Securing the speakership requires a majority of politicians who vote for a candidate by name. With all members voting, that number is 218.
The 20 Republican politicians opposed to Mr. McCarthy on Wednesday backed Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R., Ind.) voted present, saying it was clear no one had the votes to win.
Some of those detractors expressed scepticism over any deal emerging as they left the Capitol on Wednesday.
Dow Jones, AFP
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