Republican Kevin McCarthy failed to win the first round of voting for Speaker of the US House of Representatives, winning even fewer votes than the minority Democratic candidate.
McCarthy tried to win over his fellow Republicans in the more conservative faction who refused to cast their votes, but it was never clear how he could avoid becoming the first candidate for House Majority Party leader in 100 years. without being able to win the vote.
McCarthy polled just 203 votes, well short of the 218 needed for House Majority Leader and even less than Democrat Hakim Jeffries’ 212, leaving his party in a political crisis.
Congressman Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican and former leader of the Freedom Caucus (an ultra-conservative group), was nominated by a pair for the election, prompting more than a dozen Republicans to oppose McCarthy.
The mood was tense among Republicans, while Democrats supported New York’s Hakeem Jeffries, who was the first black congressman to lead a party caucus.
A group of ultra-conservative congressmen, led by the Freedom Caucus and aligned with the political agenda of former President Donald Trump, is not satisfied with the results of the current vote, personally attributing the defeat to McCarthy and the party’s moderate core.
“If we want to drain the swamp, we can’t control the biggest alligator,” said Republican Matt Gaetz of Florida, one of the leaders of the Freedom Caucus, referring to the inability of the party’s moderate core.
It took 218 votes out of 435 in the House of Representatives to lead the lower house.
With only 222 seats, the GOP could afford to lose a handful of votes and still get Kevin McCarthy elected in the first round.
However, the opposition of the ultra-conservatives close to Trump scuttled the Republican plans, which will have to be submitted to new votes, with an unpredictable result.
Source: TSF
