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
McCarthy: Tonight ‘we’ll have the votes to finish this once and for all'
"We'll come back tonight and I believe at that time, we'll have the votes to finish this once and for all," Kevin McCarthy says.
Asked how he expects to govern with a conference like this, he replies: "Because it took this long, now we learned how to govern.”
Gaetz hints at deal as House adjourns
Matt Gaetz tells reporters he is happy about the framework deal and suggests he could make deal with Kevin McCarthy now after holding out for four days.
“We’re still negotiating on spending and on the rules, and we’ll see how it goes tonight.”
“I think the House is in a lot better place with some of the work that’s been done to democratise power out of the speakership and that’s our goal.”
Only one Republican attended event marking Capitol riot anniversary
Democrats met on the steps of the Capitol to mark the second anniversary of the deadly Capitol riot in 2021. The families of police officers killed and injured in the event were also on hand, as was only a single Republican lawmaker.
Graig Graziosi reports.
Only one Republican lawmaker attended an event commemorating the Jan 6 anniversary
The event honored the families of police officers who were injured or killed as a result of the insurrection
Watch: ‘You have to give Nancy Pelosi credit'
Republican Rep Chris Stewart tells CNN: “You have to give Nancy Pelosi credit. One way or another, she kept her caucus in line. And I don’t know how she did it.”
Jan 6: Portrait of a dark day in American history
Two years after the effort to overturn the election culminated in a violent insurrection on the Capitol, a portrait of how Mr Trump’s day went on January 6 has emerged in a trove of documents from a House selection committee investigation.
Andrew Feinberg pieced the former president’s day together.
We now have a full picture of what Trump did on January 6. Here it is
Trump woke up on 6 January 2021 ready for a battle he had no chance of winning. But the timeline of his day shows just how hard he tried, Andrew Feinberg writes
Eli Crane will not vote for McCarthy
CNN’s Kate Sullivan reports that key holdout Eli Crane will not vote for Kevin McCarthy for speaker.
C-SPAN lauded for House speaker vote coverage
C-SPAN has been lauded for providing an unfiltered, transparent live feed of all the action on the floor of the House of Representatives as Republicans struggled to agree on a speaker this week.
Audiences have been treated to a fascinating insight into how Congress functions – or dysfunctions, as the case may be.
There have been hours of footage of huddling lawmakers, animated negotiations, and unexpected pairings of people with well-known quarrels.
Usually, congressional rules dictate what cameras can and cannot show in the Capitol, but with no representatives sworn in there are no such rules, leaving C-SPAN camera operators seemingly free to capture all the frustrations, laughter, and intensity of four days of voting.
Needless to say the C-SPAN team — and the still photographers present — have won the praise of political junkies across the nation for putting us all ringside.
Howard Mortman, the network’s communications director, shared some pictures of a few members of the team that brought those images to the world.
Others offered their own praise.
C-SPAN’s co-CEO Susan Swain noted that while their coverage is getting kudos, the non-profit network “doesn’t get a dime” of government funding.
“Sadly, we’re not available to all pay TV customers, importantly YouTube and Hulu,” she tweeted, adding the request: “Please help convince them to add C-SPAN to their lineups by liking and retweeting.”
Trump crows in all-caps as McCarthy closes in on speakership
Former President Donald Trump is excitedly awaiting a likely vote in favour of Kevin McCarthy after a week of ballots in which he failed to be elected Speaker of the House.
Mr Trump posted: “LOOKING VERY GOOD FOR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, AND OUR COUNTRY, TONIGHT. ALL COMING TOGETHER. STAY TUNED!!!”
Meet Cheryl Johnson
If there was an unexpected breakout star in the House this week, it wasn’t a grandstanding elected representative, it was a diligent official doing her job and rightly winning praise for keeping proceedings on track.
Meet the House clerk wielding the gavel until speaker chosen
The extended drama over picking the next House speaker has put the normally understated position of House clerk in the spotlight
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