Republican McCarthy Humiliated in US Congressional Election – Politics

United States of America

The election to the presidency of the United States House of Representatives is usually a formality, this time it is a drama of historic proportions. Several Republicans are openly rebelling against their leader.

Washington (dpa). Republican Kevin McCarthy suffered a historic defeat in the election to the US House of Representatives. McCarthy lost the majority required for the powerful US office in the vote in the constituent session of the House of Representatives Tuesday in several ballots.

It is the first time in a hundred years that the election has required more than one attempt and that a parliamentary group has not elected its candidate for office in the first round. The United States House of Representatives has adjourned its vote on the presidency of the chamber.

Following November’s parliamentary elections, Congress met for the first time on Tuesday in a new constellation. Republicans have taken control of the House of Representatives: in the Senate, President Joe Biden’s Democrats still have a slim majority. The bitter internal struggle of Republicans for leadership in the House of Representatives has been raging for weeks. But now things have gone worse than expected for McCarthy.

McCarthy bloßgestellt

The office of Speaker of the House, which in recent years has been held by the Democrat Nancy Pelosi, is in third place in the national ranking after the president and his vice president. Usually the choice is a formality. But several party colleagues rebelled against McCarthy and had already made it clear before the election that they did not want to vote for McCarthy. He has made a series of concessions to his opponents, because given the narrow majority of Republicans in the House, it depends on almost all the votes.

For McCarthy, his election defeat is public exposure that also shows the party’s internal turmoil. It’s been a hundred years since a candidate on the House of Representatives ballot didn’t get the necessary majority on the first ballot: in 1923 it took nine ballots to elect a leader. Then it took several days.

It was initially unclear how many more votes would be needed to elect a new Speaker of the House of Parliament. It was also unclear whether the election would last several days. Each ballot is lengthy as all MPs are summoned individually to nominate their preferred candidate.

House of Representatives paralyzed

The election of the president is the first major act of a newly elected House of Representatives. And until the presidency is clarified, nothing works: the Chamber of Congress cannot begin its work, not even new parliamentarians can take the oath.

In the first and second rounds, McCarthy got just 203 votes out of 434 cast – he needed 218. 19 party colleagues refused to vote for him in both attempts. Previously it was expected that a good dozen party colleagues would not support him. On the third ballot he lost another vote in his own ranks.

After the first ballot, Republican Congressman Jim Jordan nominated McCarthy for the second attempt and urged his party colleagues to close ranks. But then, soon after, one of McCarthy’s toughest opponents, Congressman Matt Gaetz, knocked out — and named Jordan of all people. Jordan is a supporter of former President Donald Trump and eventually rallied all 19 dissenters behind him in the second round.

McCarthy had become belligerent shortly before the meeting and said: “I hold the record for the longest plenary speech.” He has no problem setting a record for the most votes in a ballot for the chair of the House of Representatives.

Even if McCarthy ultimately prevails, he will come out weakened by the fracas and face some difficulties organizing majorities in the House of Congress for years to come.

Ideological tug of war

McCarthy revealed on Tuesday, visibly annoyed, that he was told on Monday that he would only get the necessary votes if he gave certain positions and budgets to certain members of the group. His opponent Gaetz also said bluntly that he didn’t care if, in case of doubt, the Democratic candidate won the election. According to McCarthy, his opponents are concerned only with personal progress, not with the country. There may be a “battle” in the House plenum, but it affects the whole group and the country, “and that’s fine with me.”

The Republican faction in the House of Representatives, like the party as a whole, is split between right-wing Trump supporters and more moderate members of the party. Faced with a slim majority, McCarthy must unite the various wings behind him and even recruit members from the very fringes of his faction to become leader. Democrats have no ability to nominate the president themselves because they are the smallest faction in the House.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:230103-99-84340/22