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
AOC fires back after Rep Cammack accuses Democrats of getting drunk in House
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez knocked down accusations from Republican Representative Kat Cammack of Florida after she claimed Democrats were drinking during their vote to nominate a speaker of the House of Representatives.
Eric Garcia reports.
AOC fires back after GOP accuses Democrats of getting drunk during speaker debacle
Rep Cammack’s speech fails to rally Republicans around Kevin McCarthy
ICYMI: Clip showing George Santos all alone in House chamber goes viral
George Santos was isolated by an obvious cloud of political toxicity on Tuesday as the embattled congressman-elect appeared on the House floor to vote in the election for speaker of the House.
Videos and photos showed the New York Republican sitting alone, in sharp contrast to his fellow lawmakers who were conversing with other members as well as some who even brought their children to the House floor to witness the spectacle of the speaker’s election.
Clip goes viral showing George Santos all alone in House chamber on first day
Rep-elect faces storm of controversy over lies about religion, background
What happens if Republicans fail to elect Kevin McCarthy as speaker? Here’s what the constitution says
The House of Representatives has failed to decide on a new speaker for the first time in a century, after Republican Kevin McCarthy was unable to secure a majority at the end of six consecutive votes on Wednesday.
Mr McCarthy must get a simple majority of votes from members to be elected speaker after Republicans took control of the lower chamber in the November midterms.
So what happens if they can’t elect a speaker? Find out here:
Who are the hard right who rebelled against McCarthy?
The Republicans opposing Rep. Kevin McCarthy‘s bid to become the next House speaker generally have made their mark as part of the GOP‘s ultra-conservative wing, eager to pick a fight with leaders from both parties and rarely finding major bipartisan bills to be a good thing.
Most are members of the House Freedom Caucus, a hard-right group that also had strained relationships with former House speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan.
Against McCarthy: Hard-right members stage GOP rebellion
The Republicans opposing Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become the next House speaker generally have made their mark as part of the GOP’s ultra conservative wing
Jamie Raskin quotes Shakespeare as House chaos continues
Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, sounding every bit like the professor that he is, began quoting Shakespeare on Thursday as the House adjourned with Republicans still unable to pick a speaker.
“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow / Creeps in this petty pace from day to day / To the last syllable of recorded time...” he said in a Twitter post, citing Macbeth.
Photo of AOC laughing during speaker votes goes viral
A photo of AOC laughing during the failed speaker votes has gone viral on social media.
In the photo, the Democrat is seen laughing as she sits behind Republican Rep Matt Gaetz while he gives an impassioned speech against Kevin McCarthy becoming House speaker.
Several social media users found the image hilarious.
“Living vicariously through @AOC right now,” one person tweeted.
Others reacted with meme while some speculated whether Ms Ocasio-Cortez was smiling at George Santos – the incoming congressman who has been at the centre of a lying scandal.
Trump claims ‘very good things’ happening behind scenes of speaker vote
Donald Trump has claimed that “very good things” are happening behind the scenes as the Republican party continues to go to war over the House speaker vote.
On Wednesday, the sixth roll call vote ended in turmoil with voting now set to resume for a third day on Thursday.
Mr Trump took to his Truth Social platform late on Wednesday to claim that he was aware of “Smart negotiations” among party members.
“Very good things are happening behind the scenes for the Republican Party. Intense but Smart negotiations between GREAT and PATRIOTIC people are ongoing,” he said.
“They all love our Country, and want something to go forward, ASAP. This “event” will end up making the Republican Party STRONGER and more UNITED than ever before. OUR NATION IS AT STAKE. Stay tuned and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump claims GOP’s infighting over House speaker makes the role ‘more important’
Donald Trump has claimed that the GOP’s continued infighting over electing the next House speaker is only serving to make the role “bigger and more important” as the former president’s allies begin turning on him over his support for Kevin McCarthy.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday morning, Mr Trump argued that “a big Republican VICTORY today, after going through numerous Roll Calls that failed to produce a Speaker of the House, has made the position & process of getting to be Speaker BIGGER & MORE IMPORTANT than if it were done in the more traditional way”.
The former president then once again launched into his lies that he won the 2020 presidential election and claimed he can win the 2024 race.
“... much like me again becoming President after having won big in 2016, gotten many Millions of MORE VOTES in 2020 but “supposedly” not winning (BIG LIE!), & then winning again in 2024. It will be BIGGER than the traditional way!”
Mr Trump has thrown his support behind Mr McCarthy and urged Republicans to vote for him as House speaker.
Boebert calls for ‘favourite president’ Trump to tell McCarthy to stand down
Donald Trump’s endorsement of Kevin McCarthy as House speaker has pitted him against some of his most loyal allies such as Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert who continue to derail Mr McCarthy’s chances after six failed votes.
On Wednesday, Ms Boebert called for her “favourite president” Mr Trump to withdraw his support for Mr McCarthy and to call on him to pull out of the race.
“Praise the work and the leadership of Byron Donalds. So let’s work together, let’s stop with the campaign smears and tactics to get people to turn against us. Even having my favorite president call us and tell us we need to knock this off — I think it actually needs to be reversed,” she said on the House floor while nominating Rep Byron Donalds to be Speaker during the fifth unsuccessful roll call vote.
“The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that sir you do not have the votes and it’s time to withdraw,” she added, prompting a cacophony of boos and cheers in the chamber.
Will McCarthy ever get to 218 votes? Possibly not says one backer
Republican Rep Warren Davidson of Ohio, who is backing Kevin McCarthy’s bid for House Speaker and even nominated Mr McCarthy on the floor on Wednesday — despite being a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus — has told CNN that time is running out for the embattled bid to be the speaker.
“The reality is, there are some people who, in their estimation, there’s no way they’re going to be able to support Kevin McCarthy,” he said, adding that some others who could be persuaded also “hardened up” to oppose.
“I think the number that will never vote for Kevin McCarthy is more than four,” he added.
While acknowledging concessions made overnight had made a difference, meetings on Thursday morning with determine how many of the 20 holdouts may have softened their stance.
“We'll see at noon and either we'll have the votes at noon, which is a tough challenge, or there will be another adjournment and say we have signs for more progress,” he added.
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