Status: 06.01.2023 7:45 p.m
Kevin McCarthy was able to persuade 14 of 20 opponents within the party. But the Republican still does not have enough votes to become the new chairman of the US House of Representatives. Will the 13th ballot bring the decision?
The Republican US politician Kevin McCarthy missed the necessary majority in the election for the presidency of the US House of Representatives for the twelfth time. However, he managed to win over 14 MPs who had previously been critical of him.
During the election, Congress cheered whenever MPs voted for McCarthy. Before the most recent round of elections, he had expressed optimism and announced progress.
This indicates that McCarthy could possibly soon become chairman. It was the first time in the four-day vote that some of his opponents gave up their resistance. Now it’s time for the 13th round of voting.
The tug of war for the House of Representatives continues
Jan Koch, ARD Washington, tagesschau24 11:00 a.m., January 6, 2023
A group of 20 ultra-conservative MPs prevented McCarthy from being elected. The Republican is not conservative enough for you. The 57-year-old has already made numerous concessions in negotiations. These included a reduction in the powers of the chairperson of the Congress Chamber and the reintroduction of a rule allowing a single MP to initiate a vote to remove the chairperson.
Deadlock in the US House of Representatives
The power struggle within the Republicans began on Tuesday when the House of Representatives met for its inaugural session after the general election in November. Usually the majority party in the House of Representatives – in this case the Republicans – then elects a new chairman without any problems.
The Republicans only have a very narrow majority in the chamber. As a result, McCarthy would need almost all the votes of his party colleagues to be elected to the powerful post, which is third in the national hierarchy after the president and vice president.
Without a successor to Nancy Pelosi, work in the US House of Representatives is at a standstill, as no new members can be sworn in, committee chairs appointed or investigations opened.
The vote for the top job is among the longest in US history. Not since the 19th century has it taken so many trials for members of the House of Representatives to elect a new leader. The last time there were more ballots was only in 1859/1860. At that time, Republican William Pennington was only elected chairman of the Chamber of Congress in the 44th ballot. The process took several weeks at the time.