House speaker vote: McCarthy thanks Trump for final votes as fight nearly breaks out on floor
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Your support makes all the difference.Kevin McCarthy was finally elected speaker of the House of Representatives after 15 rounds of voting, clinching the gavel just after midnight on Saturday.
The longest contest for speaker of the House of Representatives in more than a century finally came to an end as six remaining Republican holdouts opted to vote “present”, giving Mr McCarthy a majority over Democrat Hakeem Jeffries.
Earlier, Republican House member Mike Rogers had to be physically restrained after lunging at Matt Gaetz amid chaotic scenes in the House.
Congressman Richard Hudson grabbed Mr Rogers by his face and physically pulled him away.
In his first speech as speaker, Mr McCarthy thanked former president Donald Trump for “helping get those final votes”.
Mr McCarthy’s bid had been delayed by a group of far-right Republicans including the likes of Lauren Boebert and Mr Gaetz.
However, on Friday he made significant progress in the 12th ballot, managing to flip a total of 14 representatives-elect in his favour after lengthy negotiations.
Exclusive: AOC says Republican chaos shows how reasonable progressives like the Squad are
Shock scenes as Republican held back in confrontation with Matt Gaetz during Speaker vote
How Matt Gaetz and AOC cleared the air on their positions over Kevin McCarthy voteTrump phone-ins, near-fights and 15 votes: Key moments from a chaotic House Speaker election
Full story: As fourth vote looms, Trump issues blustering McCarthy endorsement
Former president Donald Trump has renewed his endorsement of California Representative Kevin McCarthy to serve as Speaker of the House despite his failure to garner support from a majority of the chamber in three consecutive votes on Tuesday.
In the hours immediately after Mr McCarthy became the first Speaker-designate from a majority party to fail to win on the first vote in a full century, Mr Trump expressed some caution about his prospects, telling NBC News: “We’ll see what happens”.
But on Wednesday morning, the twice-impeached ex-president took to his Truth Social platform to offer a full-throated defence of the man who helped him retain political relevance by visiting him at his Florida home after he’d left the White House in disgrace.
Read on:
Trump issues blustering McCarthy endorsement as House readies fourth Speaker vote
Former president Donald Trump has renewed his endorsement of California Representative Kevin McCarthy to serve as Speaker of the House despite his failure to garner support from a majority of the chamber in three consecutive votes on Tuesday.
Jake Tapper goes viral for ‘child molester’ quip in analysis of House speaker chaos
CNN anchor Jake Tapper has gone viral for a quip about disgraced former Republican House speaker Dennis Hastert during an on-air discussion about the chaotic scenes in Congress on Tuesday.
After Kevin McCarthy failed to garner sufficient votes to secure the Speakership, fellow CNN presenter Dana Bash opined that Republicans had faced a similar dilemma when Newt Gingrich was forced out as speaker in 1998.
Tapper recalled how that turned out.
Bevan Hurley reports.
Jake Tapper goes viral for ‘child molester’ quip during House speaker chaos
There was an awkward on-air moment during a conversation between CNN anchors on the current GOP disarray
Aguilar: ‘We saw the true character of the modern day Republican Party'
Rep Pete Aguilar slams modern day Republican Party as “obsessed with power and their own personal advancement”.
GOP wants to adjourn until tomorrow, reports say
House Republicans want to try to adjourn the chamber until tomorrow and forgo any speaker votes today, reports say.
However, House Democrats will whip against this and the GOP would have to come together to carry the adjournment vote on their own.
Gaetz calls Trump endorsement of McCarthy ‘sad'
Rep Matt Gaetz reacted to former president Donald Trump’s doubling down on his endorsement of Rep Kevin McCarthy with a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Sad!” Mr Gaetz said in a statement to the outlet on Wednesday. “This changes neither my view of McCarthy nor Trump nor my vote.”
Rep Aguilar silent on if Democrats will oppose adjournment today
“We’ll be communicating to our members what our suggestions are,” Rep Aguilar says, adding: “It’s clear that by asking for more time — it’s just continued chaos.”
Chip Roy slams Gingrich’s critique over speaker impasse
Rep Chip Roy of Texas, one of the holdouts against Kevin McCarthy becoming speaker of the House of Representatives gave a blistering response to former speaker New Gringrich’s critique of the impasse this morning during a radio interview.
“I don't have time for listening to fossils... sitting on Fox News.”
Ouch.
George Santos jumps the gun with another fictitious statement
George Santos can add another false statement to the long list of fictions he has spun about his life.
The freshman New York congressman-elect was among the new class of lawmakers who arrived on Capitol Hill on Tuesday eager to be sworn in and commence their duties as elected representatives for their various districts.
But that didn’t happen. Nevertheless, he released a statement claiming otherwise.
George Santos shares statement about being sworn in to House - when no one has been
New York Republican was already under fire for wide range of fictions on his resume
Biden calls House GOP dysfunction ‘embarrassing’
President Joe Biden on Wednesday decried House Republicans’ failure to elect a Speaker and begin regular business, telling reporters at the White House that the dysfunction reflects poorly on the United States.
Speaking just outside the White House residence before he departed aboard Marine One for an event in Kentucky, Mr Biden said the spectacle in the lower chamber is “embarrassing” because it is taking so long for the House to begin doing business.
Andrew Feinberg reports on the president’s full comments.
Biden calls House GOP dysfunction ‘embarrassing’ as voting for Speaker set to resume
Mr Biden says the House’s failure to elect a Speaker on the first day of the 118th Congress is ‘not a good look’ for the country
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