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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Rep Aguilar nominates Hakeem Jeffries as the Democrat candidate for speaker for the fifth time.
Boebert says Donald Trump — her “favourite president” — called and said they should “knock this off”.
She says it needs to be in reverse and he should call McCarthy and tell him he does not have the votes and it is time to withdraw.
It appears that, once again, Kevin McCarthy has lost the vote by the time the roll call reaches the Es as it runs alphabetically.
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GOP Rep says McCarthy needs to make deal or step aide... today
GOP Rep Ken Buck tells CNN he told Kevin McCarthy he needs to either make a deal for the votes or “step aside… sometime today”.
He also notes that Steve Scalise is “next in line” and that Mr McCarthy may only be able to count on his vote one more time.
Never Kevin groups stands ground
The Never Kevin group stands firm at 20-strong as Kevin McCarthy appears set to lose a fifth speaker ballot in the House.
Rep Ken Buck stuck with McCarthy as he urges him to cut a deal.
It looks like a sixth ballot is on the cards.
Earlier: Frantic lobbying between fourth and fifth ballots
Rep Spartz once again votes “present”.
The fifth vote is identical to the fourth.
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Michael Fanone, a former Washington, DC Metropolitan Police officer who was injured while protecting the Capitol on January 6, 2021, visited the Capitol to witness the chaos surrounding GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become the speaker of the House.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
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