The 57-year-old fears for the support of ultra-conservative party members.
(Photo: Reuters)
Washington, Berlin Republican leader Kevin McCarthy lost the first round of voting to become speaker of the US House of Representatives. Republicans have a narrow majority in the chamber. Previously, several ultra-conservative MPs had announced that they would not vote for McCarthy.
McCarthy can afford just four dissenters in his own ranks if, as might be expected, none of the Democrats vote for him. According to the New York Times, 19 Republican lawmakers voted for a candidate other than McCarthy.
The defeat is a historical sensation. The last time it happened was a hundred years ago that the vote for the powerful office required more than one ballot and a parliamentary group refused to support its candidate in the first round.
McCarthy had tried for a long time in internal negotiations with all sorts of concessions to change his critics’ minds – without success. McCarthy revealed that on Monday he was told that he would only get the necessary votes if he provided certain members of the group with certain offices and budgets. One of his opponents, Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, even said bluntly that he didn’t care if the Democratic candidate won the election, McCarthy said.
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His critics are not concerned with America, but only with themselves, he lamented. “I will always fight to put the American people first – not a few individuals trying to get their own way.” There may be a “battle” in the plenary chamber, but this is about them whole faction and country, “and I’m fine with that,” he said.
Voting could take several days
The internal rebellion against McCarthy greatly delays the usual procedure at the start of the legislative period. Each ballot is lengthy because all MPs are called up individually to nominate their preferred candidate. And until the presidency is clarified, nothing works: the Congress Chamber cannot start its work, not even the new MPs can be sworn in.
In 1923, several ballots were last needed to determine a chairman – nine rounds. That took several days at the time.
Republicans won the majority of the House of Representatives in November’s midterm elections. However, they were not able to win as many mandates as expected in advance.
The Senate remained in the hands of the Democrats. The Republicans have 222 seats in the new House of Representatives. The Democrats are at 213. McCarthy needs at least 218 votes to succeed the previous chamber leader, Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
Biden must expect more headwinds
If he were elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, he would be third in the US political hierarchy after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. For Biden, the change of power in the House of Representatives means that he will have to reckon with significantly more headwinds before the next presidential and congressional elections in 2024.
But for a long time there has been a dispute among the Republicans between those members who, like ex-President Donald Trump, want to move the party further to the right, and a comparatively more moderate wing. McCarthy is facing accusations that he was not aggressive enough to stand up to the Democrats and Pelosi during his years as a minority leader in the House of Representatives.
It obviously didn’t help that he made concessions to dissatisfied party colleagues over the New Year’s weekend. “He’s part of the problem. He’s not part of the solution,” Republican Congressman Bob Good reiterated his disapproval of McCarthy on Fox News on Monday. “There is nothing to suggest to me that he will change his approach.” He will therefore not vote for McCarthy.
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