ANP extension
ANNOUNCEMENTS••Edited
There is still no new Speaker of the US House of Representatives. On the third day of the election, Republican presidential candidate Kevin McCarthy also failed to win a majority. The votes were cast for the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth time. McCarthy received 200 votes in the final round when he needs 218.
Usually, the election of a new Speaker of the House of Representatives is a formality. The last time the president wasn’t directly elected was a hundred years ago, in 1923. The last time a tenth vote was required was even further back: in 1859.
Twenty dissidents
Republicans have a small majority in the House of Representatives with 222 of the 435 seats. As a result, twenty dissidents from the ultra-conservative wing of the Republican party manage to block the election of a president. They think McCarthy isn’t conservative enough and fear he’s too willing to make deals with Democrats.
More than ten Republicans also voted today for Byron Donalds, a Republican novice from Florida who is not seen as a serious presidential candidate. One voted in the eighth ballot for former President Donald Trump, who had previously called on Republicans to back McCarthy.
The dissidents try to exploit their position of power by forcing McCarthy into a long list of concessions. For example, they demanded that he resign if even one Republican representative requests it. In the negotiations it was agreed that there would be five of them, but his opponents were still not satisfied.
Politics is silent
The 212 Democrats voted unanimously for their own candidate Hakeem Jeffries. Even this is not enough for a majority and it is practically impossible for the Chamber to have another Democratic president.
Until a new Speaker of the House of Representatives is elected, politics will stand still. Decisions like an increase in the debt ceiling or new aid to Ukraine cannot be taken.
