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U.S. House adjourns without a speaker after GOP leader Kevin McCarthy falls short in three votes
PUBLISHED TUE, JAN 3 202310:06 AM ESTUPDATED TUE, JAN 3 2023AT 6:17 EST

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy appears to lack support to become speaker

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives adjourned for the day Tuesday without a speaker, after Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., failed in three consecutive votes to secure enough support to be elected to the post.

The failed votes marked the first time in 100 years that the majority party in the House has not elected a speaker on its first vote. The staunch opposition to McCarthy from a core group of Republicans grew larger over the course of the day, throwing the party into chaos.

Democrats, meanwhile, appeared to enjoy the spectacle of their opponents so deeply divided.

During each of the three voice votes, every Democrat on the floor rallied unanimously around incoming Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. But a sect of conservative Republicans split from their party to back other candidates, including longtime McCarthy ally Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

In an unexpected twist, McCarthy actually lost support as the voting continued, when in the third round Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds announced his support for Jordan, after having voted twice for McCarthy.

As a result of Donalds’ defection, McCarthy won 202 of the 218 votes needed to secure the post in the third round, one vote less than he had in the first two ballots.

Jordan, who nominated and voted for McCarthy, won 20 votes in the third round. Jeffries, the incoming Democratic minority leader, won 212 votes in each of the three rounds.

Following the vote, Donalds suggested his caucus take a break from voting.

“The reality is Rep. Kevin McCarthy doesn’t have the votes,” Donalds wrote on Twitter. “I committed my support to him publicly and for two votes on the House Floor. 218 is the number, and currently, no one is there.

“Our conference needs to recess and huddle and find someone or work out the next steps, but these continuous votes aren’t working for anyone,” Donalds wrote. “When the dust settles, we will have a Republican Speaker, now is the time for our conference to debate and come to a consensus.”

McCarthy’s failure to win public support from his entire caucus has cast a shadow over the new Republican majority, exposing divisions within the party that have existed for decades. The differences were deepened by former President Donald Trump, who emboldened a small band of ultra-conservatives.

Trump eventually backed McCarthy’s bid for speaker, as did other influential conservatives such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. But the ex-president’s sway within the GOP caucus did not prevent McCarthy’s repeated defeat.

Following the failed votes Tuesday, Trump pointedly declined to endorse McCarthy with as much gusto as he has previous.

“We’ll see what happens,” Trump told NBC News, when asked directly if he was sticking with the GOP leader. “I got everybody calling me wanting my support. But let’s see what happens.”

The mood on the House floor Tuesday started out cheerful and energetic, due in part to the presence of members’ children and family members, many of whom came to witness what they expected would be swearing in ceremonies.

But it grew more tense as the day wore on. Until a speaker is elected, the rest of the chamber’s members-elect cannot be sworn in, because their oath of office is administered by the speaker.

While the House held multiple rounds of voting, the Senate, which is again controlled by Democrats, swore in Washington Sen. Patty Murray as the Senate president pro tempore, making her the first woman in American history to hold the position.

While the vice president is technically the president of the Senate, the president pro tem presides over the chamber on a daily basis, signing legislation and administering oaths of office.

The Senate pro tem is also typically third in line for the presidency, after the vice president and the Speaker of the House.

But on Tuesday night, with no speaker elected in the House yet, Murray temporarily became second in line.


Early in the day, McCarthy had vowed to continue holding votes as long as it took to win 218, effectively trying to call his opponents’ bluff.

But after the third vote, both Democrats and Republicans grew visibly anxious to leave their seats. Unlike most votes, where members can vote in absentia, the speaker vote must be conducted in person, leaving no room for members to come and go.

With no immediate solution to the Republican impasse on the horizon, the House held a voice vote on a motion to adjourn that was loudly endorsed by both parties.

McCarthy’s conservative opponents still have a long list of demands they believe McCarthy has failed to meet.


https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/03/hou...kevin-mccarthy-looks-to-win-support.html

Apparently, The Speaker does not have to actually be a member of the House of Representatives.

1, Weird

2, Would love to see them make Liz Chaney the Speaker.
- will never happen
- would she even accept?

A truly funny event took place yesterday.. George Santos, the Lying Rep, put up on his house Social Media site that he was sworn in my the Speaker of the house.. But there was no speaker of the house. That post was taken down later.

This guy will continue to lie no matter what. If the Republicans allow him to remain, they are saying it's ok to lie.

LOL,, now that right there is rather funny., Liz Cheney as Speaker of the House? Oh man, the so called Freedom caucus would flip out. You know what might be worse is Hakeem Jefferies being voted in as Speaker. He already has more votes that Kevin McCarthy. 212 to 203 or there abouts.

Talk about the Freedom Caucus heads exploding.. Yikes.

I don't think you could get enough republicans to vote for a Democrat for speaker. Not sure you could even get 1. The only way Jeffries could be voted in would be if enough republicans would not show up thusly lowering the vote threshold to below the number of democrats

I do believe Cheney could get enough support from Republicans that they could find enough Democrats to put her over the top

Well, since Cheney is out of Congress now, I'd say that's highly unlikely.

No doubt it would take a number of Dems to put her over the top... Not sure how it breaks down.

Hakeem Jefferies got 212 votes, if Cheney can get those she only needs 6 republican votes.. She could get that. Personally, I think it's highly unlikely but it is possible.

That she isn't a member of congress is no barrier to her becoming speaker. I would think she would need to agree to accept it if the votes are there.. I don't think the votes are there.. But I do believe it would be closer that any of us suspect...Cheney has shown she can work with Dems,, that will garner her many votes I would think.. But like you, I think it's highly unlikely!

It appears many of those who voted against McCarthy are from the Cra Cra Caucus...

Rep. Andy Biggs
Rep. Dan Bishop
Rep. Lauren Boebert
Rep. Josh Brecheen
Rep. Michael Cloud
Rep. Andrew Clyde
Rep. Eli Crane
Rep. Matt Gaetz
Rep. Bob Good
Rep. Paul Gosar
Rep. Andy Harris
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna
Rep. Mary Miller
Rep. Ralph Norman
Rep. Andy Ogles
Rep. Scott Perry
Rep. Matt Rosendale
Rep. Chip Roy
Rep. Keith Self
Rep. Byron Donalds

Cheney would never get 212 dem votes. But I could see 100 or even 150

We had fun with the notion of Cheney., But moving on...
If not McCarthy then who?

Scalise? Doubtful
Jim Jordan? God help us
McHenry? Seems like he doesn't want it.

It's quite a conundrum. The extremists won't support anyone who doesn't give in to their extremist demands. The traditional Republicans seem unwilling to give in to the extremists. We'll see how much power means over principals by who wins out in all of this.

LOL,, Yeah the Chaney thing is fun,, but silly.. Won't happen!

Someone on TV threw out Trumps name...God help us......NO.

Watching the count right now, it appears that McCarthy has lost for the fifth time,,,,,,

I would think there isn't one that would fit all the needs of the congressmen that Pit listed.. It's just crazy but this is the problem with the freedom congress. They aren't thinking of America.

You know how much Republicans support new elections after they lose them. The idea of a do over seems to excite them. This time it's an over and over and over and over.

Liz Cheney is a democratic wet dream.

More realistic options.

1. McCarthy gives away the store to become speaker, and we see nothing but Biden investigations/impeachments. Payback.

2. The Far right Republicans come up with another leader, and we see nothing but Biden investigations/impeachments. Payback

3. The Moderate Republicans come up with another leader, who is palatable to Democrats that wont do investigations/impeachments. The Far Right screams Compromise.

Democrats are holding out for someone that wont promise investigations to satisfy the far right.

I have disdain for those on the far right and far left. They are the problem.

What do you consider far left?

The squad and others of that ilk. Bernie too...

Yeah, they aren't far left; they are progressive. If you ask me, progressives are the only group ready and capable of leading. What they aren't is some cult, like MAGA. This isn't the 80s or 90s, and the days of the centrist corporatist government of the early 2000s are all but dead. No need to fill your side of the aisle with compromises when the other side has lost its mind.

They should just nominate Santos and get it over with.

j/c

I predict that Kevin McCarthy will eventually get the votes he needs to take the gavel.

I also predict that he will have sold off enough parts of himself to attain said seat... that said seat will be powerless - or worse.
Said seat could actually be for sale/lease/use to the strongest-voiced sub-caucus on any given day, and eternally subject to temporary intra-party wind shifts.

That is no 'leadership position' at all.

Oh, he might assume the role, play around with the hammer in front of C-SPAN cameras, and preside over ceremonial/procedural junk, but he will never, ever be able to whip his entire party into lockstep, like Mistress Nanceboot Von DonkDom© (whipcraaaaaaaackck!!!)

For twenty years.

And when all's said and done, that badass whippin' power is exactly what is wanted/needed/expected in a House Speaker.
A person who can herd cats into cattle... and get them all into the chute. On time.

Based upon what we've seen so far, does anyone really think that Kevin McCarthy can actually accomplish this even once, during the next 2 years?
Because as tight as house numbers are during this upcoming term, a great many bill actions are gonna require a great many whipping sessions.

Something tells me that only a scant few congressfolk are gonna respond to Mistress Kevin: Kitten with a Whip.


I'm just leaving this out here for public consideration: KMcC has groveled, genuflected, and 'buns-up beta male-d' his way to within an inch of the brass ring.
If he finally greases his way into contact, he will find the ring too slippery to actually wield with any effectiveness? He will have zero ideological influence, zero policy-making influence, zero voice in the party's direction. He will be compromised/neutered by every faction to whom he now owes a portion of his flesh and future.

I don't care what side of Red/Blue politics anyone leans to, the politics-interested citizen in me sees this particular guy as compromised beyond all effectiveness.
Yay, Democracy.


It will be interesting to see what this generation of the House produces, if anything.


.02

Honestly, McCarthy couldn't whip a dead mouse.

He can't read his own caucus. Love her or hate her, Pelosi was amazing at rounding up the troops and herding them to go her way.

j/c:

At least we know that Republicans don't just fall in line like Democrats do whether you agree or disagree with party. I respect those that are in opposition. I do feel they will eventually lose when there is 200 vs 20 in this case. But no one should be forced to just fall in party line.

wow

Good question, who......as a former Republican- I'm laughing at the whole party, you wanted a lying, non-conformist President who would clean up the swamp.....what did you reap- a splintered party which the Democrats are laughing at....remember that promised red wave, inflation, open borders, the economy- they, the know it alls, the wave was coming. Dumb, they forgot about all the lying Trump brought, the anguish Roe vs Wade caused, and Democrats working all those slights.....independents like me stopped the red wave and until the Republicans get more central and work WITH Democrats to get something done they will be LOSERS...JMHO.

Love Cheney, she'd be great President.

You're right. They should be able to blackmail McCarhty into giving them whatever they want and hold their party hostage rather than do what's best for their own party.

I know, right?

I think you pretty much nailed the most likely scenarios and options left on the table. If I had to pick a front runner I would say he gives the Cra Cra Caucus everything they want to become speaker. Then in fact his role won't actually be what the speaker role should be. He'll be a puppet and not Speaker of the House.

Goper’s … what an embarrassment. Bet they’d make a quick decision if the rules were limited to eight votes. Who ever has the most votes is speaker.

I considered the very though of that as crazy and that nobody would vote for trump to be Speaker of the House. And then one of the Cra Cra Conference did this.....

Gaetz votes for Trump for Speaker on 7th ballot

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) voted for former President Trump for Speaker of the House on Thursday, as the chamber held its seventh vote in three days in an attempt to elect a Speaker.

Gaetz, who has been a staunch opponent of Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) bid for Speaker, broke with his fellow anti-McCarthy members to vote for Trump on the seventh ballot. The remaining 19 representatives voted for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).

Gaetz later tweeted out a photo illustration of Trump brandishing the Speaker’s gavel.

Although no movement occurred in the seventh vote — as the same 20 far-right members continued to split with the rest of the Republican Party — several members appeared to be making progress in negotiations with McCarthy overnight. Gaetz, however, seemed to dig in on his anti-McCarthy position.

The move comes after Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), a member of the anti-McCarthy group, suggested on Wednesday night that she might nominate Trump for the position. The comment earned Boebert a barbed response from Fox News host Sean Hannity.

“Is this a game show? Like we’re gonna pick [Rep.] Jim Jordan [R-Ohio] one day, Trump the other day?” Hannity asked Boebert.

Despite the apparent support from Gaetz and Boebert, Trump himself has backed McCarthy’s bid for Speaker and urged Republican lawmakers to “get this thing over with.”

“I think it is a dangerous game, and, frankly, if they are not happy with him, they can do something about it at a later date,” Trump told Fox News Digital of the anti-McCarthy group.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/...PQaOnft87gNbho9bSoREC-kQfuplOV0cPzUnYLUc

If anyone wonders why I call this bunch the Cra Cra Caucus this should answer that question for them.

Exactly! unless and until republicans and democrats learn to live and work together, this country is going nowhere fast.

McCarthy Destroys His Speakership In Order to Save It

If they accept the terms McCarthy is offering his opponents, House Republicans would essentially be codifying desperation for the indefinite future.

In desperate circumstances, Kevin McCarthy worked overnight Wednesday on a desperation deal.

If that deal is somehow successful, based on the work-in-progress details that came to light Thursday morning, House Republicans will essentially be codifying desperation for the indefinite future — making disorder and factional appeasement a formal part of their governing creed.

The bargain under discussion, as described by my colleague Rachael Bade, would give McCarthy the speakership in exchange for a new batch of concessions that would further dilute his ability to exert actual authority in the job. Since he hasn’t articulated and may not have strong views about a governing agenda, beyond Biden administration investigations, one could arguably see why McCarthy might be willing to give it a try to win a position he has coveted for years.

The mystery is why other Republicans — his own allies in particular — would go along with this.

Even before the latest round of overnight negotiating, McCarthy was at risk of violating principles of power that are at work in any arena where people jostle for influence and recognition — from school playgrounds to world capitals. McCarthy has served notice that there is more advantage to be gained by being his enemy than his ally.

The reports on the latest maneuvering put that in a vivid light. POLITICO’s story described the bargaining as a “glimmer of hope” for McCarthy. The details, however, are hopeful in the same way that a person dying of thirst might find a pitcher of saltwater hopeful.

McCarthy is ready to drink.

Previously, he had agreed to House rules that would allow five members to push a “motion to vacate” forcing a vote on whether to oust the speaker. Going any lower than that was supposedly a “red line.” Now, a new deal would allow just one person to force a new showdown and McCarthy advocates say there is not really a practical difference between one and five.

Red line? What we meant to say was actually, you know, not so much red as kind of magenta. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), a McCarthy supporter, said as he left the would-be speaker’s office Thursday morning that the latest moves should not be thought of as “concessions” but rather “clarifications.” He said he’s confident his fellow GOP partisans won’t “misuse” the motion to vacate.

Members of the Freedom Caucus, with which McCarthy opponents closely align, would also get a guaranteed two spots on the powerful House Rules Committee — amid signs that McCarthy might surrender the speaker’s historical power to decide which individuals get the seats.

Opponents are also using their leverage to extract major changes in the appropriations process. There would be standalone votes on each 12 annual appropriations bills — a major priority for fiscal conservatives who deplore big “omnibus” spending packages — considered under an “open rule” that allows any lawmaker to offer floor amendments.

Notably, according to Bade’s reporting in POLITICO Playbook, “McCarthy’s camp also expects that he may eventually have to endorse [his opponent’s preferred choices] for committee gavels, such as Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), who’s pushing to lead the Health and Human Services subcommittee on Appropriations, or Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), who’s gunning to lead the Committee on Homeland Security.”

If you are someone other than Harris or Green and had been hoping someday to wield that gavel, and have been a steadfast McCarthy supporter, how do you feel about that preceding sentence? As a practical matter, McCarthy is asking his own supporters to be as supine toward him as he is being to his opponents.

McCarthy may feel he has no choice, but what’s striking about the modern House is that there are many others who also feel that their range of options is so narrow. An earlier generation of lawmakers would have had multiple other powerful actors — veteran committee chairs and appropriators and the like — with independent bases of power. There is scant prospect that they would have been fine with letting a weakened figure take the speakership or simply leave it to McCarthy to decide for himself how long he wants to let this week’s drama drag on.

There were some signs of a backlash. The Dispatch reported that Rep. Robert Alderholt, a veteran GOP appropriator from Alabama and McCarthy backer, is bridling at the latest reports. Adding some people to committees, is one thing, but “as far as skipping over people’s seniority ... I think we’ve gone too far.”

Also notable is the nature of McCarthy’s defense. Just as he chose not to have Republicans campaign last fall on an idea platform — such as Newt Gingrich’s “Contract for America” in 1994 — he has not really waged battle with his opponents on the ideas front. He has urged them to get in line for the sake of party unity, and on grounds that Republicans should be firing at President Joe Biden rather than each other.

But he so far hasn’t ventured a substantive argument like: My values and judgment about governing are better, and more in line with the country’s mood and the mainstream of the GOP, than those of my grandstanding opponents like Matt Gaetz or Lauren Boebert.

He might reasonably ask: How on earth would that help anything? One answer is that it would at least claim a higher ground for his candidacy than what he has tried so far — transactional maneuvering, now turning to rank appeasement. That’s especially true since the latter approach hasn’t worked so far, and — with multiple opponents saying they are hard no’s no matter what McCarthy puts forward — there is only the slightest reason to suppose it will start working.

For now, McCarthy has maneuvered himself into a situation where he might face something worse than losing the speakership: Winning it under conditions like these.

https://www.politico.com/news/magaz...EJU7n4-eDOsM6j9z_PIO931e5IKqCWAAJyawcOi8

Obviously the overnight negotiations were not enough. Let's just see how much more power he is willing to hand over the the Cra Cra Caucus to hold the Speakership. As if it would actually be the Speakership at all. As of now it's looking like it can't be.

McCarthy: "Spino."
(Speaker In Name Only)

That is clever and funny
Unfortunately, he sabotaged his bid for speaker by being spino-less these past 2 years

As minority leader, what real power did he possess? Not much. I don't care for him because during the Jan 6 incident, he publicly pleaded with Trump to do something to call it off.. After, he went to Mar A Lago to Kiss Trumps Butt.

He's weak and wishy washy at best. But at the same time, all but 21 of his people voted for him. Most importantly, the ones that didn't are part of the Freedom Caucus and are holding America Hostage.

Here's a thought, what about electing Mike Pence as speaker?

I don't know if anyone else saw this, but Matt Gaitz says that if McCarthy is elected speaker, he'll resign.. Wondering, is that a threat or a promise...

Any bets on how many rounds of voting before Hakeem is elected speaker?

17

That would be funny., But I don't think that will happen. What can happen is that if a group of 6 Republicans say, if you don't Elect McCarthy to be the speaker, we're going to throw our votes to Jefferies. I would see that as a possibility. A VERY DISTANT ONE....

Can you imagine, a republican held house with a Democrat speaker.... OK, admit it, that would be different. LOL

Kevin McCarthy needs to pack it in. What doesn't he understand? Step down and get out of the way. These bastards couldn't tell you what color the sky was.

You mean the 20 bastards that wish to insure our government can't function? I'm not a fan of Kevin McCarthy. I can however understand how over 200 members of congress do not wish to allow 20 members to hold the party hostage and blackmail them.

There are plenty of Democrats who could cross over or Republicans who can too.