Republican Kevin McCarthy failed to secure a majority in the first two ballots for the presidency of the US House of Representatives. So several votes have to be held before there is a new president.
McCarthy needed 218 votes to become president and succeed Democrat Nancy Pelosi, but got just 203 in her first two ballots to slide forward.
It’s the first time in a hundred years that the House, the US equivalent of the House of Representatives, needs more votes to elect a new president. More often than not, the outcome is virtually predetermined.
Tomorrow there will be another vote, which in theory could produce a new successor. If not, there will be another vote. As a result, it could be days before there is a new president.
Republicans won a House majority in November, but some Republicans think California’s 57-year-old McCarthy is a man of old politics who should give way to a more outspoken candidate.
Work in the House of Representatives came to a complete halt until a new president was elected. This means, among other things, that no new laws can be introduced.
