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.
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Luna, Miller, Norman, Ogles, and Perry vote for Donalds, taking his total to 17.
Rosendale, Roy, and Self vote for Donalds taking his total to 20 and showing no movement toward McCarthy.
Rep Victoria Spartz of Indiana has switched her vote from McCarthy to “Present”.
Over the course of four ballots support for McCarthy has dropped from 203 to 201.
McCarthy loses historic fourth vote
Kevin McCarthy has once again made history by losing his fourth consecutive vote for Speaker of the House.
The latest defeat occurred early Wednesday afternoon after a brief confusion over whether the House would not simply adjourn without taking any votes.
This time, Republican rebels seeking to block Mr McCarthy from becoming speaker rallied behind Rep Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican who has only been in the House of Representatives since 2021. 20 members backed Mr Donalds, meaning that the GOP leader failed to win over even a single one of his colleauges overnight.
John Bowden is watching the votes live and reports from Washington, DC.
Kevin McCarthy loses historic fourth vote in bid for Speaker of the House
No party in control of the House has failed to elect a speaker on first vote in 100 years
Who is Democrat Hakeem Jeffries?
While the Republican battle continues over Kevin McCarthy’s repeated attempts to claim the House speaker’s gavel, Democrats have remained united behind their new leader, New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries.
Who is he?
Who is Hakeem Jeffries? Democrats united behind new leader
‘There’s a genuine sense that he wants to develop relationships and working partnerships with many of us,’ progressive Democrat says of new leader
House heading into fifth speaker vote
Rep Warren Davidson of Ohio is nominating Kevin McCarthy as we head into another vote to pick a speaker.
The fifth ballot comes after some frantic huddling between pro and never Kevin groups of Republicans on the floor of the House.
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