January 6 is a date marked in the history of the United States for the storming of the Capitol in 2021. At the scene of the crime, two years later, this Friday the members of the House of Representatives met to try to resolve a blockade that had acquired also historical dimensions. After 14 votes, the members of Congress have not agreed to elect their president, which keeps the House paralyzed due to the rebellion of the more radical Republicans. The party’s candidate, Kevin McCarthy, approached the dissenters, but lost a dramatic 14th ballot, which ended in an insufficient draw. However, he called for a new vote at midnight, apparently having won new votes.
In the afternoon, Republicans approved the adjournment until 10 p.m. in Washington [las 4.00 de la madrugada del sábado en la España peninsular] because McCarthy was hoping to make deals with the rebels and finally win the vote tonight. But the new vote ended up being another humiliating fiasco for the candidate.
North Carolina Representative Patrick McHenry made the nomination on the 14th ballot. “It’s been a long week in Washington.” McHenry described what happened in recent days as a “free and open exchange of ideas” in which “every vote counts”. In this week, McCarthy “has grown as a leader,” he said. He’s “hardworking, the man who doesn’t give up,” she said after praising his attention to his humane treatment of his group members because “people matter to him.” “If your wife is sick, you can send her flowers or fruit even before yourself,” he cited as an example. McHenry and most Republicans were convinced that the vote was the right one.
One of the most vocal rebels, gun activist Lauren Boebert, who said she would never support McCarthy, agreed to say “present” on the ballot instead of voting for another candidate. This amounts to an abstention. Because of that “present” and the fact that one of the 213 Democratic representatives died after the election, the majority threshold dropped from 218 to 217 votes, but he got 216. Four Republicans remained in their thirteen: Andy Biggs, Matt Rosendale, Bob Good and Eli Crane.
Another apparently die-hard, Matt Gaetz, top exponent of the Never Kevin group (Never Kevin) did not respond to the first call to vote and maintained the suspense until the end, when he also said “present”. It wasn’t enough. McCarthy, who needed a yes, got up visibly shaken and went over to Gaetz’s seat, sitting next to Boebert, to try to convince him to change his vote, since he was in time to do so. The other Republicans also lobbied him. The cameras focused on him, but Gaetz, with a very serious expression, didn’t give in. McCartthy returned to his place defeated, even if he found the strength to laugh with some colleagues.
Republicans initially proposed the adjournment through noon Monday. Since the Democrats were against it, the motion was put to a vote, and the Republicans were well on their way to getting a deferment. But in another dramatic twist, Republicans have suddenly decided to change their vote and demand that the session continue. They had to come to the table to do it as McCarthy began to smile. He gave the impression of having secured the appointment, but the tension was maximum. Candidate needs one of those who said “present” to vote for him or at least one of the other four opponents abstain
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Before starting the day session, the different parties talked about progress, rapprochement and progress. In Friday morning’s vote, he managed to attract 14 of the 20 rebels. Until Thursday he had obtained between 200 and 202 votes, but in the first two votes this Friday he improved his result and obtained 213 and 214, despite the absence of two of his deputies, with whom in practice there were two votes to achieve his nomination.
Among the newly won votes were those of Chip Roy and Scott Perry, leaders of the revolt. “We are at a turning point. I negotiated in good faith, with one goal: to return the Casa del Pueblo to its rightful owners. The framework for an agreement is in place, so in good faith I voted to restore the People’s House by voting for McCarthy.” Perry tweeted. Each of the new honors was celebrated with standing ovations from the Republican bench.
In the daytime session, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz had called for McCarthy to withdraw: “He doesn’t have the votes today, he won’t have them tomorrow and he won’t have them next week, next month or next year,” he said. he said, though no one applauded him. By the twelfth ballot there had been seven who had defected. Along with Maetz and Boebert, the group was completed by Andy Biggs, Eli Crane, Bob Good, Andy Harris and Matt Rosendale. In 13, Harris also voted for McCarthy.
Before this Friday’s session, a group of representatives gathered at the Capitol doors to pay homage to the relatives of the victims of the Capitol assault. The act was open to members of both parties, but the vast majority of those who attended were Democrats and the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and what is the new leader of the House Democrats, Hakeem Jeffries.
“Two years ago today, our nation watched in horror as a mob of terrorists stormed the Capitol grounds in a violent attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power,” Pelosi said in her message recalling the assault. “What was a day of unimaginable horror was also a moment of extraordinary heroism, as brave law enforcement officers stood up to the insurgents to protect the Capitol. We are eternally grateful to these heroes, and we continue to pray for the fallen, the mourners and their families”, he continued, concluding: “January 6 marks the feast of the Epiphany in the Catholic tradition. As we mark two years since the insurrection, we pray that this day will continue to serve as an epiphany for our nation: to heal the wounds that remain and preserve American democracy.”
Without agreement
Two hours after that act concluded, the House reconvened without McCarthy having managed to win enough votes. The Republican’s position will be greatly weakened even if he manages to get elected. This is partly what rogue lawmakers want, who have never had a viable alternative candidate and have gone so far as to nominate former President Donald Trump for office. Among the new concessions that McCarthy has offered is that it only takes one representative of the 435 to request it for the Speaker of the House to present a motion of no confidence to remove him, as requested by the so-called Freedom Caucus (Freedom Group), the most radical faction of the Republicans, to which almost all the dissidents belong.
McCarthy is also willing to give the Freedom Caucus representation well in excess of its share on one of the more powerful committees in the House, the one that regulates procedures and determines which laws are put to a vote, among other relevant decisions. .
These concessions add to others the candidate already put on the table last weekend. McCarthy offered to dissolve the commission of inquiry into the storming of the Capitol as soon as possible, which was taken for granted, and to create another one in its place to investigate the federal government’s alleged use of Joe Biden as a political weapon . That commission will predictably scrutinize the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago (Florida) mansion by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and other Justice Department actions against the former president.
In addition, the political action committee reporting to congressional leaders announced Wednesday that it will not interfere in the Republican primary. In last year’s election, that committee funded moderate candidates it saw as more likely to beat Democrats, which unsettled the radicals. The commitment not to intervene was another of the rebels’ demands.
El Freedom Caucus He made a list of his requests in early December. McCarthy has already agreed last weekend to incorporate some of them into the new House rules, which will consequently ban electronic voting or remote participation in committees. The new president will also suppress the metal detectors that Pelosi had installed after the assault on the Capitol to prevent access to the chamber with weapons. He also agrees to impose draconian restrictions on the approval of government spending: every time a new item is approved, it will have to be cut elsewhere. The new regulation proposed by McCarthy also provides for a minimum of 72 hours from the presentation of a bill until its presentation in plenary, avoiding express laws that some representatives have indicated as falling short of their rights as MPs.
Election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives It is the essential first step also for the swearing-in of representatives, but the ultras deputies have boycotted McCarthy’s election several times in an invisible show in more than a century. In 1923, the last time the Speaker of the House was not elected for the first time, it took nine rounds. To find such a persistent blockade, one has to go back 164 years to 1859, just before the Civil War, when it took 44 attempts in an environment of confrontation and polarization centered around slavery. The record, also from that era, dates back to 1855, when 133 votes were needed.
The speaker He is the third highest authority in the United States, only behind the president, Joe Biden, and the vice president, Kamala Harris, who in turn presides over the Senate. He is, therefore, second in the line of presidential succession in the event of the president’s death or incapacity.
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