[ad_1]
The House of Representatives has moved to adjourn on Wednesday night, with Republicans still divided over who the new Speaker will be.
New and old members have yet to be sworn in for a second day in a row in a situation that is unprecedented in modern US political history.
The chamber floor devolved into chaos soon after members returned from a brief break, as Democrats and Republicans attempted to out-scream each other during a voice vote on whether to call it a night.
Embattled House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters earlier in the evening that he wanted to end today’s session to allow for more negotiations after 20 members of his caucus derailed his bid for the gavel.
But Democrats appeared ready to stay on the floor and drag McCarthy’s potential political demise out in public.
House Democrats’ new No. 3 Rep. Pete Aguilar called for individual votes to be cast after the voice vote proved inconclusive, and it came down to the wire.
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters on Wednesday after a closed-door meeting and just before the 8pm session that he wanted to move the Speaker vote for another day
All eyes were on the Republican McCarthy critics to see if they would join Democrats in dragging out the night.
At one point, DailyMail.com observed progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in an intense conversation with conservatives like Matt Gaetz and Paul Gosar.
But in the end, she was one of the Democrats hollering for the House clerk to allow more time for their members to race onto the floor and cast their votes.
In the end, the move to adjourn narrowly won out – to the tune of claps from the GOP side.
Just five Republicans voted with the Democrats to keep the night going: Reps. Andy Biggs, Lauren Boebert, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz and Bob Good.
It came after six rounds of voting – three on Tuesday and three on Wednesday – where the GOP failed to coalesce around a new leader. It’s setting their new House majority off to a rocky start.
The chamber briefly adjourned earlier on Wednesday afternoon until later the same evening, with McCarthy holding a crisis meeting in incoming Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office in between.
Republicans have fallen into disarray over their disagreements on a new House Speaker
Many of McCarthy’s detractors who emerged from the meeting were hesitant to give details about it, with GOP Rep. Ralph Norman only telling reporters they ‘listened’ to the flailing GOP Leader’s pitch.
Conservative Rep. Scott Perry, another McCarthy critic, called the meeting ‘productive’ but said there was still ‘a lot to be done.’
But Gaetz and Boebert had not been moved. Gaetz emerged from the meeting telling reporters McCarthy was dealing ‘in bad faith’ and both said they remained firm ‘no’ votes.
McCarthy told reporters when he emerged that he did not believe further votes on Wednesday night were ‘productive.’
‘I don’t think a vote tonight does any difference but I think a vote in the future will,’ he said, adding that he felt no ill will toward his detractors.
It has been almost 48 hours since Kevin McCarthy was first nominated by his party, yet the rebels in his party branded the ‘Taliban 20′ have ensured that the Speaker chair is still empty in farcical scenes that President Joe Biden has said are an ’embarrassment’ on the world stage.
McCarthy has so far failed to secure the 218 votes needed to officially take the gavel from Nancy Pelosi in each of the six rounds that have been dominated by infighting and disarray.
Rep. Kat Cammack said it was clear Democrats were relishing in Republican division by the ‘popcorn, blankets and alcohol’ they were bringing to votes as she made her pitch for McCarthy’s Speaker bid
When nominating Florida Rep. Byron Donalds as an alternative to McCarthy, Boebert urged Donald Trump to call the Leader and tell him to withdraw.
The ex-president reaffirmed his endorsement for McCarthy earlier the same morning.
Florida GOP Rep. Kat Cammack said it was clear Democrats were relishing in Republican division by the ‘popcorn, blankets and alcohol’ they were bringing to votes as she made her pitch for McCarthy’s sixth Speaker bid.
Cammack acknowledged the ‘Groundhog Day’ feeling on the House floor as she nominated McCarthy for Speaker for the sixth ballot.
‘They want us to fight each other — that much has been made clear by the popcorn, and blankets, and alcohol that is coming over there,’ Cammack said.
Democrats erupted over the remark, shouting at the House Clerk to strike it from the record. ‘Take down her words!’ some shouted, as others demanded an apology.
‘If only! If Dems took a shot every time McCarthy lost a Republican, we’d all be unconscious by now,’ Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter.
Democrats posted photos on Twitter of tins of popcorn they were bringing to the cloakroom as they watched chaos unfold among their colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Over the course of six ballots, McCarthy has gone from losing 19 to losing 21 Republican votes. He can only lose four to win the speaker’s bid.
Twenty Republicans have voted for GOP Rep Byron Donalds for Speaker
The chamber became rowdier as votes dragged on. Later in Cammack’s address she asked her colleagues, ‘Are we the party of Reagan?’ Democrats shouted back in unison ‘NO!’
Later, Perry took to the microphone to nominate Donalds for Speaker a third time. ‘This is not about personalities!’ he insisted to Democratic guffaws.
He went into a lengthy diatribe on how the first black U.S. lawmakers were Republicans and the GOP was the party of Lincoln as a Democrat shouted, ‘Who are you nominating!’
Boebert said her ‘favorite president’ Donald Trump should call GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and tell him ‘it’s time to withdraw’ after the House failed to make the California Republican its Speaker despite five rounds of voting.
The Colorado Republican noted that Trump had been calling McCarthy’s opposition and telling them to change their vote.
‘I think it actually needs to be reversed. The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that, sir, you do not have the votes and it’s time to withdraw,’ she said at the start of the fifth vote.
On the fourth ballot McCarthy lost yet another vote, with 20 Republicans voting against him and one voting present. On the fifth ballot there was no movement, with the exact same vote count as the fourth.
While McCarthy needs a majority of the House votes to become Speaker – he doesn’t yet even have a plurality – Jeffries got 212 votes on the fourth and fifth rounds, McCarthy received 201.
Twenty Republicans voted for Donalds, including the Florida Republican himself.
One Republican, Rep. Victoria Spartz, switched her vote from McCarthy to ‘present’ on the second and third rounds Wednesday.
She said in a statement she switched her vote to present because she wanted the conference to step back and deliberate.
‘We have to deliberate further as a Republican conference until we have enough votes and stop wasting everyone’s time,’ the Indiana Republican said.
Spartz said she’s ‘still supporting’ McCarthy and refused to answer reporters’ questions on whether she supported a new candidate is needed.
The stinging loss came after Trump issued a last-minute warning on Truth Social imploring Republicans not to let a ‘great triumph’ turn into an ’embarrassing defeat’ by failing to vote McCarthy Speaker.
The Colorado Republican noted that Trump had been calling McCarthy’s opposition and telling them to change their vote. ‘I think it actually needs to be reversed. The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that, sir, you do not have the votes and it’s time to withdraw,’ she said
The House looks poised to voted against making GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy its Speaker in a fourth round of ballots Wednesday,
Rep. Chip Roy received a standing ovation even from Democrats as he nominated Donalds for Speaker
Donalds told reporters he does not even want to be speaker – he just thinks McCarthy needs to re-evaluate.
‘Like, actually not, I really never came here to try to be leadership,’ he said.
Donalds told DailyMail.com he spoke with Trump this morning, but he paid no mind to the former president’s warnings.
‘The members are going to decide this process. And you know, that’s, that’s no disrespect at all to President Trump. That’s just the reality of the House,’ he. said.
One the second and third ballot the anti-McCarthy faction had united behind Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who is supportive of McCarthy, but now his name seems to be taken out of the running. On the first ballot, most had voted for Rep. Andy Biggs.
Ahead of the vote Texas Rep. Chip Roy, a staunch McCarthy defector, was seen huddling with Jordan on the House floor.
Donalds voted for himself in the race after voting for McCarthy in the first two ballots. On the third ballot of Tuesday he voted for Jordan, saying he realized McCarthy did not have the votes and needed to reevaluate.
Nineteen Republicans voted against the California Republican in the first two ballots on Tuesday and 20 did so on a third ballot. The House voted to adjourn as it became clear no progress was being made.
Rep. Mike Gallagher nominated McCarthy with a staunch defense of the Republican leader and a few jokes about needing popcorn to make it through the day’s chaos. ‘Gallagher for Speaker!’ Rep. Matt Gaetz shouted as Gallagher got a standing ovation during his speech.
Donald Trump played a round at his Palm Beach golf course on Wednesday after throwing his weight behind Kevin McCarthy to be Speaker of the House
Roy received a standing ovation even from Democrats as he nominated Donalds for Speaker, noting it was the first time two black candidates had been nominated for Speaker in history.
After the vote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a McCarthy defender, took another shot at the ‘rebel’ faction of her party.
‘We are on day 2 and the same Never Kevin group is now on their 3rd Speaker candidate. People are truly beginning to realize they have no plan, and they are sick and tired of ‘trust the plan’ that’s a complete secret and never produces results.’
As it becomes more clear the impasse is unlikely to break anytime soon, some have suggested McCarthy allies will soon try to negotiate a deal with Democrats.
Even Rep. Alexandira Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., suggested to MSNBC McCarthy could try to do a deal with Democrats.
‘If he chooses to approach the Democratic Caucus, then that would be a negotiation, in and of itself, for a potential coalition government. But, again, this is very much an unprecedented time.’
Empty speaker’s chair is pictured above as the House remains at an impasse about who to seat there
An exasperated McCarthy watches on as he is about to lose a fourth vote for speaker
AOC also questioned whether a deal could include Democratic committee chairs and reiterated in an Instagram post that McCarthy should open talks across the aisle in order to secure the vote.
‘If this goes on, and on, and on, and the Republican Party has no Speaker nominee, something has got to give,’ she said.
McCarthy can only afford to lose four Republican votes and become Speaker, if all Democrats vote for Jeffries. But if a number of Democrats switch their vote to ‘present’ he could win with fewer than 218 votes.
McCarthy-allied Rep. Mike Rogers also suggested the GOP leader may have to do a deal with Democrats if the faction against him does not cave soon.
‘There’s a whole host of things that would be beneficial to them in the minority, that a lot of us would find more palatable than dealing with a couple of amendments or something like that,’ Rogers said. ‘This very malleable, the universe of things that that are negotiable. And that’s a real Avenue.’
He likened the anti-McCarthy GOP faction to ‘terrorists.’
‘You don’t negotiate with terrorists, whether they’re Islamic terrorists … or these people with, basically political gun. Kevin, you don’t negotiate those kinds of either legislative terrorists who have no problem killing the hostage,’ Rogers said.
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, seemed less keen on the idea.
‘I haven’t heard any offers or anything,’ he told DailyMail.com. ‘I just don’t know what they can offer that would be appealing to make Kevin McCarthy the Speaker.’
Rep. Ro Khanna said on Fox News he would consider voting for the ‘right Republican,’ with conditions, involving the debt ceiling and subpoena power.
‘I would consider the right Republican someone I could trust Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike Gallagher, who actually spoke eloquently on the floor, David Joyce, but there needs to be two conditions,’ he said.
[ad_2]
Source link
