Kevin McCarthy has failed for a fourth time to secure the votes to become House speaker, as his 20 conservative opponents refuse to budge. There’s still no clear path forward for him – or any other Republican – after the failed fourth ballot.
In fact, in a sign of further animosity, after the gatheringthat happened earlier Tuesday. McCarthy and his allies had come out swinging against his dissenters at that meeting, a move that some House Republicans say alienated his opponents further.
“I don’t think anyone should be assuming something drastic happens quickly. We have to be patient,” said Rep., a McCarthy ally who’s trying to negotiate with his conservative colleagues. “The fever’s got to break here. The very thing that’s got to happen is the temperature has got to come down.” McCarthy, though, dropped hints Tuesday night about his next step: If he can’t flip enough of his opponents to vote for him, then he could try to get some of them to vote “present,” which would lower the total number of backers he needs to win the gavel.
“If he’s literally trying to patchwork votes together, to scrap together the votes by trying to carve out present votes and hope some people don’t show up or something — I just don’t see that as a path to a strong leadership position,” Roy added. “We’re basically at an impasse. So what are we going to do, have the same vote numbers for 10 ballots? That’s ridiculous and that makes no sense,” Donalds said. “He’s got to prove he can get there. At the end of the day you have to close the deal. … We do not reward not being able to close deals.”
“DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT. IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT,” Trump wrote. “Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
'The GOP Is Irretrievably Broken': House Adjourns After McCarthy Fails to Win Speakership'Still not sworn in because the Republicans are having a hard time picking their leader,' said Democratic Rep.-elect Maxwell Alejandro Frost. 'This is a snapshot of how they'll operate for the next two years.'
Read more »
Kevin McCarthy faces open GOP revolt as House fails to elect speakerThe House will come back into session Wednesday after McCarthy’s bid failed on three ballots on the first day of the new Congress. Republicans won back the House in the midterms, but with a slim majority, requiring near-consensus to move votes forward.
Read more »
Day 1 of GOP-Led House Shows Party Disunity as McCarthy Fails to Win SpeakerDespite Republicans having a majority in Congress, Rep. Kevin McCarthy failed to garner enough votes to become Speaker of the House of Representatives, losing three rounds of votes.
Read more »
GOP’s dilemma over House speakership: If not McCarthy, then who?If the California lawmaker drops out of the race, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana is expected to run for the job — but it’s far from clear whether Scalise himself could get the 218 vote…
Read more »
Kevin McCarthy optimistic about House speaker vote despite GOP criticism'I think we will have a good day tomorrow,' Representative Kevin McCarthy said on Monday.
Read more »
McCarthy’s GOP foes dig in before House speaker vote: ‘No principles,’ ‘part of the problem’The Republican hardliners who oppose Kevin McCarthy's bid to be House speaker dug in against him even more over the weekend, setting the possibility of multiple votes.
Read more »