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      McCarthy suffers eighth defeat in bid for House speaker as stalemate drags on

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      McCarthy suffers eighth defeat in bid for House speaker as stalemate drags onThe impasse over choosing a House speaker continued as McCarthy fell short of votes held up by his detractors The stalemate over choosing a House speaker continued on Thursday, after the Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed to win the gavel for an eighth time.McCarthy won 201 votes on the eighth ballot, leaving him 17 votes short of the 218 needed for a victory. The results mirrored previous rounds of voting, reflecting the entrenched opposition that McCarthy is facing within the House Republican conference.House Republicans aim to rein in ethics body preparing to investigate their partyRead moreThe Thursday votes included a couple of surprises. Far-right congressman Matt Gaetz, a Republican of Florida, twice cast a ballot for Donald Trump. As the US constitution does not specify that the House speaker must be a member of the chamber, lawmakers are not required to support one of their colleagues. Trump received no other votes.Another two of McCarthy’s detractors, congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado and congressman Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, threw their support behind congressman Kevin Hern of Oklahoma. Hern, the chair of the Republican study committee, said that the possibility of becoming speaker was “something I’ll have to think and pray about before deciding if it’s a job I’ll run for”.Before Thursday’s proceedings, the House deadlocked over the speakership three times on Wednesday, following the three inconclusive votes held a day earlier. Rather than voting a fourth time that day, members moved to adjourn for a few hours on Wednesday evening, giving McCarthy’s team more time to negotiate with his Republican detractors.The evening, too, failed to produce a solution, so the chamber reconvened only to adjourn again until the following afternoon. This is the first time in a century that the House has not chosen a speaker on the first ballot.In a glimmer of hope for McCarthy’s prospects, most of the holdout Republicans supported his move to adjourn until Thursday at noon. The final vote on the measure was 216-214, as Democrats and a few Republicans tried and failed to keep the chamber in session.Freshman congressman John James, a Republican of Michigan, celebrated the successful motion to adjourn as a “small victory” when he renominated McCarthy on Thursday. But the House Democratic caucus chair, Pete Aguilar, mocked James’s boast as a telling sign of Republican dysfunction.“There is no victory in adjourning without doing the business of the people,” Aguilar said as he renominated the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries.The third day of voting came amid reports that McCarthy has made significant concessions to his roughly 20 detractors within the Republican conference. According to CNN, McCarthy has agreed to a chamber rule change allowing just one House member to call for a vote to remove the sitting speaker. McCarthy has also reportedly agreed to allow additional members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus to serve on the influential rules committees, and he has promised votes on some of the detractors’ top legislative priorities.In another major win for far-right House members, the McCarthy-aligned Pac Congressional Leadership Fund has reached an agreement with the organization Club for Growth to not invest in open-seat primaries in safe Republican districts. The two groups have previously clashed in primaries where the Club for Growth promoted candidates who were farther to the right than those endorsed by the CLF. The agreement could give hard-right candidates a better chance at a primary victory, clearing the way for them to join the House after winning relatively easy general elections.“This agreement on Super [Pacs] fulfills a major concern we have pressed for,” said David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth. “Assuming these principles are met, Club for Growth will support Kevin McCarthy for speaker.”But the concessions do not yet appear to have swayed McCarthy’s critics within the conference. Congressman Scott Perry, chair of the House Freedom Caucus and a leader of the anti-McCarthy coalition, expressed frustration that details of the concessions had leaked to the press. He voted against McCarthy for the seventh time on Thursday.“A deal is NOT done. When confidences are betrayed and leaks are directed, it’s even more difficult to trust,” Perry said on Thursday afternoon. “I will not yield to the status quo.”A deal is NOT done. When confidences are betrayed and leaks are directed, it’s even more difficult to trust. Totally unsat. I will not yield to the status quo.— RepScottPerry (@RepScottPerry) January 5, 2023
      McCarthy can only afford to lose the support of four Republicans and still become speaker, assuming all 434 current members of the House cast ballots. If some of McCarthy’s detractors instead choose to vote “present”, the threshold for victory could be lower than 218.McCarthy’s allies complained that the impasse is already affecting their constituents, as all House business has come to a halt until a speaker is selected.“My office was informed by an agency today that they cannot communicate with my staff regarding active casework because we are not yet sworn in,” said congressman Don Bacon, a Republican of Nebraska. “The handful holding up the speaker election is not helping Americans but directly hurting them.”In the face of Republican division, Democrats have remained united in backing their newly chosen leader. On each of the first six ballots, Jeffries won the support of all 212 members of the Democratic caucus, making him the top vote-getter in the speakership election so far.Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Jeffries implored Republicans to reach a consensus for the sake of the nation.“It’s my hope that today, the House Republicans will stop the bickering, stop the backbiting and stop the backstabbing of each other so we can have the back of the American people,” Jeffries said. “We as Democrats are ready, willing and able to partner with them to find common ground whenever and wherever possible – not as Democrats, not as Republicans, as Americans. It’s time for Congress to get to work.”TopicsHouse of RepresentativesUS CongressUS politicsRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

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      January 6 officer Michael Fanone warns ‘democracy is still in danger’

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      January 6 officer Michael Fanone warns ‘democracy is still in danger’The former policeman – who sustained injuries during the US Capitol attack – says January 6 was a ‘wake-up call’ Nearly two years after American democracy was nearly derailed by the January 6 insurrection, a survivor of the attack gathered with Democratic lawmakers outside the US Capitol to warn that the Republican party’s paralysis of Congress is a sign that political violence is as much a threat as ever.‘Devoid of shame’: January 6 cop Michael Fanone on Trump’s Republican partyRead more“The events of that day felt like a wake-up call for me – and many others – that political violence is real. The worst part is that our elected leaders allow this to happen. And yet, this week people who encouraged and even attended the insurrection are now taking their places as leaders in the new House majority,” said Michael Fanone, a former Washington DC police officer who sustained grievous injuries while battling supporters of Donald Trump.As the second anniversary of the unprecedented attack neared, the Capitol was again engulfed in chaos, thanks to a revolt by rightwing lawmakers who have promoted Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen. Their target this time was Kevin McCarthy, the party’s leader in the House of Representatives, who was hoping to be elected as speaker when the chamber’s new Republican majority took their seats last Tuesday.But the GOP’s margin of control is thin enough that the objectors have managed to stop him from winning the post, leading to multiple rounds of voting for the first time since 1923. The deadlock has rendered Congress’s lower chamber dysfunctional, with lawmakers unable to even be formally sworn in.Democrats have meanwhile steadfastly supported their leader in the chamber, Hakeem Jeffries, and shown no interest in helping Republicans resolve their differences, instead pointing to the spectacle as evidence the GOP is in the grips of its most radical members.“I see … forces of extremism on the far right, that are ready to tear down our government at whatever cost,” said Chris Deluzio, a newly elected House representative. “And we’ve seen the consequences of that even in the last couple of days, in the chaos around electing a speaker of the House, blocking us from doing the basic work of the people’s business in the House of Representatives.”The legislative standoff may well be ongoing on Friday when Joe Biden will mark January 6 with a White House ceremony for 12 police officers and election workers who fought off the mob and resisted pressure from Republican officials to stop counting the votes after the 2020 election.The group includes Rusty Bowers, former Republican speaker of Arizona’s lower house who Trump personally pressured to disrupt Biden’s election victory in the state, and Brian Sicknick, a Capitol police officer who died during the insurrection, as well as Fanone.Even if they manage to settle their spat in the House, the day will be an awkward one for Republicans. GOP candidates for offices nationwide in the November midterms promoted Trump’s baseless fraud claim, though many of its loudest proclaimers lost their races. It was an outcome cheered by democracy advocates, but it wasn’t enough to put Fanone’s fears to rest.Kevin McCarthy bid for House speaker enters third day after series of defeatsRead more“Many of the … pro-democracy candidates won by only a fraction of a percentage. So what that tells me is that, you know, democracy is still in danger,” Fanone said following Thursday’s event at the Capitol, which was organized by the anti-Trump organization Courage for America and Common Defense, a veterans group.He has become an outspoken critic of the Republicans since the insurrection, including McCarthy, who he once described as a “weasel”.“It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy,” Fanone said of the Californian’s latest troubles. “That being said, it’s still the legislative body of our government. And as an American, watching this level of dysfunction, is embarrassing.”TopicsUS Capitol attackUS politicsWashington DCDemocratsRepublicansDonald TrumpnewsReuse this content More

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      House Democrats should unite with moderate Republicans to elect a speaker | Robert Reich

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      House Democrats should unite with moderate Republicans to elect a speakerRobert ReichIn exchange for backing a relatively moderate Republican such as Fred Upton or David Joyce as speaker, Democrats should demand they get equal seats on committees On Thursday, Republicans began their third day supposedly in control of the House of Representatives but without a speaker – which means the House cannot function.Over the past two days the Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California lost six votes for the top job, because the extreme Maga right wing won’t support him.To get their support, extremists in the House are demanding that any member be able to call a vote at any time to oust him, which would put McCarthy on a very short leash controlled by the Maga right (with Trump indirectly controlling them).In effect, Trump and his loyalists would call many of the shots – on committee assignments, investigations (Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, the FBI), and key issues like raising the debt ceiling (they’ll demand that McCarthy refuse – imperiling the credit of the United States and catapulting the nation into an economic crisis).Does this mean the rest of us have to sit back and allow a tiny minority of extreme rightwing Maga House Republicans controlled by Donald Trump to hijack congressional Republicans, who in turn will hijack the entire House, and thereby hijack much of Congress?No. There’s an alternative, and House Democrats and the few remaining “moderate” Republicans should take it: come together to make someone like Michigan’s moderate Republican Fred Upton or Ohio’s David Joyce the speaker of the House.There’s no rule that says the party in control of the House must decide on the speaker by themselves. All anyone needs to be speaker is 218 votes (or a majority of all members present), regardless of party.House Democrats and moderate Republicans could come up with the 218 votes to put Upton or Joyce over the top.Upton would be a good speaker but Joyce would probably be more acceptable to most current Republican representatives, even though the extremist Maga Republicans won’t have anything to do with him.Joyce is the new chairman of the Republican Conference Group, a group you’ve probably never heard of (years ago it was called the “Tuesday Group”) because it flies under the radar. It’s a collection of the remaining 40 or so Republican moderates.I say “moderate” only in comparison to the rest of the Republican House. The Conference Group at least wants the government to function.Joyce is hardly a progressive. During Trump’s presidency, he voted in line with Trump’s stated position 91.8% of the time. And he voted against impeaching Trump for his role in the January 6 insurrection.But Joyce is not a Maga Republican. He refused to sign the Texas amicus brief that tried to overturn the results of the presidential election. He was also one of the few Republican House members who did not object to the counting of electoral college votes on January 6, 2021.Since Biden became president, Joyce has voted in line with Biden’s positions over 30% of the time.He was one of 35 Republicans who joined all Democrats in approving legislation to establish the January 6 commission to investigate the storming of the US Capitol. He and 46 other Republicans voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, codifying the right to same-sex marriage in federal law.Overall, Joyce’s politics are similar to the Democratic senator Joe Manchin’s. “Everybody’s a Joe Manchin,” Joyce said a few weeks ago.Joyce wants to keep swing-district Republicans out of the harm’s way coming from the Freedom Caucus and other Maga conservatives.He saw what happened to Ohio Republican candidates viewed as too close to Trump’s Maga wing: the state’s House delegation shrank from an eight-member edge for Republicans to just five because voters rejected several Maga candidates. “There’s some exotics that like chaos, they thrive in chaos because that’s how they get the media,” Joyce told the Washington Post.Given that the likeliest alternative will be a Speaker Kevin McCarthy beholden to the extreme Magas, either Upton or Joyce should be elected speaker – and could be if only five House Republicans and all House Democrats support him.What should Democrats ask for in return? A power-sharing agreement similar to the one agreed to in the last Senate, in which each party got the same number of seats on all committees.The deal will enable the government to function and will simultaneously repudiate the Maga extremists. It’s a good deal for America.
      Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com
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      ‘Groundhog Day, again’: after sixth vote, still no Republican House speaker

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      ‘Groundhog Day, again’: after sixth vote, still no Republican House speakerKevin McCarthy had hoped to grasp the speaker’s gavel, but a deadlock by ultraconservatives placed it beyond his reach02:34“Well, it’s Groundhog Day – again,” said Congresswoman Kat Cammack of Florida, nominating the Republican leader Kevin McCarthy for speaker of the House on the sixth ballot.House of Representatives: why is it taking so long to elect a speaker?Read moreBut as he had five times before, McCarthy suffered yet another humiliating defeat at the hands of 20 hard-right Republican holdouts determined to block his rise.McCarthy vowed to forge ahead. But it was clear Republicans were growing weary of the once-in-a-century spectacle that has already tainted the opening days of their new House majority. Despite three rousing speeches endorsing his candidacy on Wednesday, his prospects seemed dimmer than ever.Congresswoman Victoria Spartz, a Republican from Indiana, changed her vote to “present” after supporting McCarthy on the first three rounds of ballots. She implored her party to “stop wasting everyone’s time” with endless rounds of balloting that were not changing any minds.“Let cooler, more rational heads prevail,” pleaded Congressman Warren Davidson, a Republican from Ohio and a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus, in a speech urging support for McCarthy.Moments later, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, another member of the Freedom Caucus and a conservative rabble-rouser from Colorado, called on her “favorite president” – Donald Trump – to level with McCarthy. Trump, she said, should tell the Republican leader: “Sir, you do not have the votes and it’s time to withdraw.”But McCarthy remained hopeful that a third day of balloting would yield a different result. Deadlocked, Republicans voted to adjourn and return on Thursday for another round.The brinkmanship underscored just how difficult it will be for any Republican to govern the chamber, where divisions have been building for years. Rebellious hardliners thwarted McCarthy’s hopes of becoming speaker once before, in 2015, when he bowed out of the race. And they chased out two of the would-be speaker’s Republican predecessors, John Boehner and Paul Ryan. But after years of coddling his party’s furthest-right flank, and wholeheartedly embracing Trump, McCarthy had hoped he had at last earned their support. Some did rally to his side, the conservative firebrand Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene​ of Georgia​ among them. But too many did not.His opponents don’t trust him – they doubt his ideological leanings and his political strength. To win their support, McCarthy has already conceded to several of their demands for rule changes that would weaken the speaker’s influence and give rank-and-file members more leverage over the legislative process.​Yet after going head-to-head for six rounds, it is unclear what McCarthy has left to offer them except his withdrawal.During a roll call on Wednesday, McCarthy, usually quick with a smile, grimaced. A fifth defection had sealed his fate before the clerk reached the last names beginning with D. At one point, his head fell into his hands. His allies worked the room, holding animated conversations with detractors. But the “Never Kevin” crew refused to budge.“These fucking people,” Congressman Dan Crenshaw, a Republican from Texas, lamented to a reporter earlier in the day. “Now they’re just being clowns.”Until a speaker is elected, the House remains completely paralyzed: members cannot be sworn in, committees cannot be formed, bills cannot be passed. Many congressmen and congressmen-elect brought their family members to Washington for the swearing-in ceremony.But instead of posing for a photo with the new speaker, hand pressed to a Bible, wide-eyed spouses and well-dressed children can be spotted instead passing the time in the basement cafeteria, waiting for something to happen. One Democratic lawmaker shared a photo of himself changing his son’s diaper on the floor of the Democratic cloakroom.“We’re representatives-elect waiting to take an oath,” Congressman Pete Aguilar, the third-ranking House Democrat, said on Wednesday. “This is a crisis of the Congress and it’s a crisis at the hands of the Republican’s dysfunction.”McCarthy remained optimistic that he could find his way to 218 votes – or execute a strategy that would allow him to claim the gavel with fewer votes than traditionally needed.The California Republican moved his belongings into the ornate speaker’s office over the weekend, even as it was clear he had not yet secured the votes to stave off a floor fight. Congressman Matt Gaetz, a McCarthy foe, accused the would-be speaker of illegally occupying the suite, which still has no nameplate above the door.Speaking later in the day, Cammack accused Democrats of enjoying the chaos, saying it was evident by “the popcorn and blankets and alcohol that is coming over there”. Democrats in the chamber responded angrily to the accusation that they were drinking during the speakership election, shouting, “Take her words down!” and asking the clerk to correct the record.“If only!” Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, shot back on Twitter. “If Dems took a shot every time McCarthy lost a Republican, we’d all be unconscious by now.”In an unexpected moment of unity, the chamber stood and applauded when Congressman Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, noted that for the first time in congressional history two Black Americans – Congressman Byron Donalds, a Republican from Florida, and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader – were nominated for the high office.Jeffries, who on Tuesday became the first Black lawmaker to lead either major party, won the most rounds on each of the six ballots, with all Democrats backing his candidacy. But he fell short of the 218 votes needed to claim the gavel.Nevertheless when the House clerk read the vote total for the final time on Wednesday – Jeffries, 212; McCarthy, 201; Donalds, 20; and one “present” – Democrats burst into chants of “Hakeem”.For the sixth time in two days, the clerk declared: “A speaker has not been elected.”The chamber recessed for several hours as McCarthy and his allies tried to chart a path out of this turmoil. One of the chief defectors called the meetings “productive”.When they returned to the floor later that evening McCarthy, encouraged by the direction of the talks, said there would be no more votes that evening.That led to perhaps the most surprising action of the day: not the speaker’s ballots, but a vote to adjourn. Having yet to adopt new rules, the House erupted in a rowdy clamor of yeas and nays. The clerk strained across the dais, attempting to make out whether the Democrats’ nays or the Republicans’ yeas were louder. A recorded vote was called and the measure to adjourn for the evening passed ever so narrowly.Amid a chaotic scene of applause, shouts and objections, the members streamed out of the Capitol building, leaving the House without a speaker for another night.TopicsRepublicansHouse of RepresentativesUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      McCarthy takes vote losses to six as US House of Representatives adjourns again – video

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      Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed for the sixth time in two days to capture the speaker’s gavel. After the House adjourned for a few hours, McCarthy and his allies went into negotiations with the Republican holdouts without a clear path forward to end the standoff, then pushed back a seventh vote on the House leadership until Thursday

      House adjourns as speakership evades McCarthy even after sixth vote More

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      Kevin McCarthy takes vote losses to six as US House of Representatives adjourns again – video

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      Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed for the sixth time in two days to capture the speaker’s gavel. After the House adjourned for a few hours, McCarthy and his allies went into negotiations with the Republican holdouts without a clear path forward to end the standoff, then pushed back a seventh vote on the House leadership until Thursday

      House adjourns as speakership evades McCarthy even after sixth vote More

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      House without a speaker as McCarthy fails to secure majority in six rounds of voting – live

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      This will give members about three and a half hours to hash things out. McCarthy could try to make deals with Republican holdouts – or bow out. In three rounds of voting today, the results have been exactly the same: Hakeem Jeffries 212, Kevin McCarthy 201, Byron Donalds 20, present 1.Hi there, it’s Maanvi Singh, reporting from the West Coast.After Kevin McCarthy failed to get support after a sixth round of voting, CNN’s Manu Raju reports that Republicans are looking to regroup:What’s happening now: McCarthy foes and emissaries are in discussions about setting up talks for tonight to break the speaker standoff, per source.They are trying to nail down exactly which members will negotiate tonight. The expectation is there could be one more vote today— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 4, 2023
      The roll call continues with 13 votes for Donalds. Here’s a quote from Republican representative Steve Womack on what the House speaker election is like: What. A. Quote.“This is like OJ and the white Bronco. Everybody’s watching…waiting for something to happen at 40 mph,” GOP Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) tells me.— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) January 4, 2023
      It is expected that House members will be adjourning after the sixth round of voting if they are unable to elect a House speaker. From CNN’s Manu Raju:McCarthy now going to lose his sixth ballot for speaker. The expectation is after this vote, the House will try to adjourn to allow Republicans to negotiate. Eight votes for Donalds and counting. McCarthy can only lose four Rs— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 4, 2023
      Once again, it appears that McCarthy has lost the sixth round of votes for House speaker. 7 representatives have voted for Donalds as roll count continues. Perry has called for Republicans to nominate “the first Black Republican speaker of the House,” receiving some applause from McCarthy opposers.Perry: “we are making history today and we are showing the American people this process works. … we are showing that we are not going to take any more of Washington being broken. We can also make history by electing the first Black Republican speaker of the House”— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) January 4, 2023
      Frustration was growing in the chamber given Perry’s longer speech, with California representative Anna Eshoo shouting at one point, “Who are you nominating?” during Perry’s remarks.Anna Eshoo just yelled out “WHO ARE YOU NOMINATING” Perry’s next line was about nominating Donalds to be the first Black speaker of the House (groans) — only the rebels applauded. Then Perry got to Frederick Douglass and there was an “oh lord” from below on the Dem side.— Tal Kopan (@TalKopan) January 4, 2023
      Jeffries received another nomination in a short speech from California representative Pete Aguilar. Aguilar noted that Jeffries has received the most votes in the five rounds of voting that have happened so far, with other Democrats applauding him. Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania has nominated Donalds, giving a speech about Washington being “broken”. “I think the person that has done the most to make this fabulous…Republican majority is Speaker Pelosi,” said Perry during his speech. The House broke into jeers and cross talk after Cammack claimed that Democrats have been enjoying the dysfunction amid Republicans, accusing Democrats of having “popcorn, blankets, and alcohol” during the proceedings. The clerk had to gavel several times to reestablish decorum. From Daily Beast reporter Ursula Perano:Cammack getting some BIG negative reactions after suggesting Dems have been enjoying “popcorn and blankets and alcohol over there” during the speaker votes.I’ve spotted popcorn and coats as blankets. But clearly, Dems offended by the alcohol remark— Ursula Perano (@UrsulaPerano) January 4, 2023
      The official roll call is in: Kevin McCarthy has officially lost his fifth round of voting.Another nomination has come through to nominate McCarthy for the position from Florida representative Kat Cammack.Fifth round of voting for speaker: Hakeem Jeffries 212, Kevin McCarthy 201, Byron Donalds 20, present 1. Kat Cammack of Florida nominates McCarthy in sixth round and says: “Well, it’s Groundhog Day, again.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) January 4, 2023
      We’re still waiting on the official count of votes for House Speaker, but it appears that McCarthy has lost a fifth round of voting. There’s mixed messaging from Republicans on if McCarthy should withdraw from the House speaker process and allow someone else to be the nominee.While McCarthy opponents like Boebert have called for McCarthy to step down, Donalds told reporters that Republicans aren’t “at that point”, adding that GOP members want to have a serious discussion about the next House speaker. From ABC News’ Rachel Scott:I asked @ByronDonalds if he believes Kevin McCarthy should step aside?“I don’t think we’re there at this point. I think there’s a lot of members in the chamber who want to have serious conversations about how we can bring this all you know, to a to a close and elect a speaker”— Rachel Scott (@rachelvscott) January 4, 2023
      Vote tally for House speaker appears to be unchanged as official votes are being recounted now. Spartz voted present again. More

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      House paralyzed as Kevin McCarthy fails to win speakership on fifth vote

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      House paralyzed as Kevin McCarthy fails to win speakership on fifth vote Republican leader’s prospects dim as he continues to fall short on the second day of voting The House was paralyzed further on Wednesday, as Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed again to win the speakership on a fifth ballot that saw his opposition deepen and left no clear path forward to end the stalemate.“It looks messy”, said Congressman Mike Gallagher, a Republican of Wisconsin, in a speech nominating McCarthy for speaker on Wednesday, “but democracy is messy.”On the second day of the 118th Congress, the Republican leader again fell far short of the 218 votes typically needed to win the gavel, marking the first time in a century that the House failed to choose a speaker on the first ballot. McCarthy earned just 201 votes, and all 212 Democrats voting for the minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Twenty conservatives opposed to McCarthy’s bid rallied behind Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida, while Congresswoman Victoria Spartz of Indiana, who had supported the Republican leader in previous rounds of balloting, voted “present”.Explaining her vote, Spartz said Republicans should “stop wasting everyone’s time” and reconvene only when they have enough votes to elect a speaker.House of Representatives: why is it taking so long to elect a speaker?Read moreDespite rounds of negotiations and a plea for unity from Donald Trump, McCarthy’s prospects appeared dimmer as he again braced for another defeat on the sixth ballot. In remarks nominating Donalds for speaker on the fifth vote, far-right conservative congresswoman Lauren Boebert suggested that Trump reverse course and tell McCarthy: “It’s time to withdraw.”With no resolution in sight, Republicans held animated discussions on the chamber floor as Democrats looked on. All House business, including the swearing-in of new members, has come to a halt until the speakership is determined. Joe Biden expressed dismay over the Republican standoff, telling reporters that the gridlock could damage America’s international reputation.“I just think it’s a little embarrassing it’s taking so long,” Biden said before leaving for a trip to Kentucky the same day. “It’s not a good look, it’s not a good thing. This is the United States of America, and I hope they get their act together.”Despite the significant hurdles he faces, McCarthy has voiced confidence that he will ultimately win the 218 votes needed to capture the gavel.“I think we’ll find our way to get there,” McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday night. “This is a healthy debate. It might not happen on the day we want it, but it’s going to happen.”In his floor speech, Gallagher acknowledged the chaos that has consumed the election so far and lamented the party’s narrow majority. Trying to put a positive spin on the situation, he celebrated the intraparty tension as the result of vigorous debate.“The American people gave us an opportunity,” he said. “They’re asking us to do a job, and nobody has laid out a plan – a proactive policy agenda for the direction we want to take this country – in more detail than Kevin McCarthy.”Before the chamber convened on Wednesday, Trump offered McCarthy his full-throated endorsement..“VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY,” Trump said in a post on the social media platform Truth Social, warning that a failure to do so would result in a “GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT”. But his declaration did little to change the minds of the conservatives dug in against McCarthy, some of whom are the former president’s staunchest allies on Capitol Hill.Other prominent Trump loyalists, including the Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ohio congressman Jim Jordan among them, have joined the former president and rallied around McCarthy and called on their conservative colleagues to join them. The continued chaos came after the first three votes held on Tuesday failed to produce a winner. Across those three ballots, the ranks of McCarthy’s Republican detractors only grew, reaching a total of 20 by the time the chamber adjourned on Tuesday evening. After demanding a number of changes to chamber rules, one anti-McCarthy lawmaker suggested the leader’s handling of policy was to blame for his poor standing among certain conference members. Scott Perry, chair of the House Freedom Caucus, specifically cited the passage of the omnibus government funding bill last month, even though McCarthy fiercely opposed the legislation.McCarthy “is falsely selling the media he’s conceded to us in the Rules – not ONE bit will do ANYTHING to stop what just happened in the massive $1.7tn, 4,000-page Taxpayer theft bill from 12 days ago”, Perry said on Twitter. “We’ll continue to seek a candidate who’ll put an end to this horrible practice.”Underscoring the acrimony between the rival Republican camps, Gaetz sent a letter to the building caretakers on Tuesday night suggesting that McCarthy was improperly occupying the speaker’s lobby.“What is the basis in law, House rule, or precedent to allow someone who has placed second in three successive speaker elections to occupy the Speaker of the House Office?” Gaetz wrote. “How long will he remain there before he is considered a squatter?”One strategy under consideration is an attempt to win the speaker’s gavel with fewer than 218 votes, by persuading some holdout Republicans to vote present, thereby lowering the threshold to win a majority.“You get 213 votes, and the others don’t say another name. That’s how you can win,” McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday night.As the Republican conference devolved into chaos, House Democrats rallied around their new leader. Jeffries, who on Tuesday became the first Black American to helm either major party’s House caucus, said Republicans’ failure to elect a speaker was a “sad day” for the institution and democracy.“This is a crisis of the Congress and it’s a crisis at the hands of the Republican dysfunction,” California congressman Pete Aguilar, the House Democratic Caucus chair, said at a Wednesday morning press conference. Aguilar said Democrats were united behind Jeffries, whom party members emphatically nominated as their choice for speaker.Due to the conservative defections, Jeffries won the most votes overall on each of the first five ballots, but he fell short of the 218 needed to be elected speaker.Yet many House Democrats reveled in the dysfunction. Several Democratic members tweeted out photos of themselves enjoying popcorn as the floor fight unfolded on Tuesday. Congressman Jimmy Gomez, a Democrat from California who brought his four-month-old to the Capitol for a swearing-in ceremony that has still not happened, tweeted a photo of his son: “Two bottle feeds and multiple diaper changes on the Democratic cloakroom floor. This speaker vote is taking forever!”TopicsHouse of RepresentativesRepublicansUS politicsUS CongressDonald TrumpDemocratsnewsReuse this content More