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
Boebert officially nominates Kevin Hern for speaker
Colorado Rep Lauren Boebert, one of the key holdouts stopping Kevin McCarthy from becoming speaker, rose before the roll call vote and has officially put forward Rep Kevin Hern of Oklahoma as a candidate for speaker.
She says the party needs to get to a point where the party starts evaluating what life after Kevin McCarthy looks like.
Boebert says threats were made
Rep Lauren Boebert claimed in her nomination of Rep Kevin Hern that “threats have been made” and “you won’t receive committee assignments if you do not vote for Kevin McCarthy.”
A lawmaker yelled: “Not true.”
Ms Boebert replied: “That is true, it happened in conference and that is exactly what we were told.”
Gaetz abondons Trump
Matt Gaetz joins Lauren Boebert in voting for Kevin Hern for speaker, abandoning his support for Donald Trump.
Hern votes for McCarthy
Despite his nomination by Rep Lauren Boebert, Rep Kevin Hern stays loyal and votes for Kevin McCarthy.
McCarthy poised to lose ninth ballot
With the voting ongoing and 11 votes against Kevin McCarthy, it is highly likely that he will lose the ninth ballot intended to make him Speaker.
There is an excellent suggestion from former CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller that time could be saved if the House clerk asked the chamber if anyone wanted to change their vote from the previous roll call.
Earlier: Rep Don Bacon flats idea of negotiating with Democrats
Earlier today, speaking on Fox News, Nebraska Republican Rep Don Bacon floated the idea of negotiating with Democrats to elect a House speaker, allowing the party to sidestep the 20 “Never Kevin” holdouts.
Watch:
Bishop: Lengthy process ‘ought to be celebrated'
Politico’s Sarah Ferris reports that Rep Dan Bishop, one of the 20 holdouts against Kevin McCarthy, says the reporting of the ongoing speaker votes is causing “anxiety” for the American people.
Instead, he claims the lengthy process “ought to be celebrated”.
House Speaker Election Ninth Ballot Result
Hakeem Jeffries - 212 votes
Kevin McCarthy - 201 votes
Byron Donalds – 17 votes
Kevin Hern – 3 votes
Present - 1 vote
Pelosi: ‘We have important work to do'
Rachel Scott of ABC News caught up with Nancy Pelosi. The former speaker said: “It is a shame for the country. This is a great institution. And really, I wish they voted elect the speaker on the first vote because we have important work to do. And this undermines that.”
Perry: Opportunity to make ‘transformational changes' to Congress
Speaking to The Independent’s Eric Garcia, Rep Scott Perry, a key McCarthy-holdout, said he had been busy.
He added: “We’re using this opportunity to make sure that we make the transformational changes to ensure that Congress works for the American people.”
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