Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s campaign for House Speaker has taken a serious hit when his Republican colleagues decided to adjourn instead, bringing with them the backing of conservatives for Florida Rep. Byron Donalds.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives accomplished something that hadn’t occurred in more than a century: they voted against McCarthy, dealing a huge blow to his initiatives.
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The House met on Tuesday evening for a crucial vote that will choose their next leader. Democrats successfully stopped Republicans from adjourning and allowed them to reconvene at noon on Wednesday in an attempt to finally elect their representative, despite McCarthy falling 16 votes short of his rival Rep. Jim Jordan on the third ballot. This maneuver sheds light on how divided American politics are still today.
Hakeem Jeffries, the head of the Democratic Party, won a historic vote from all 212 Democrats to become the next Minority House Leader. Only 201 votes were delivered in McCarthy’s favor, despite an endorsement from the former president Trump and several lobbying attempts by Republican friends early that morning. One surprising “present” vote came from the camp of Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz, who had previously backed McCarthy.
“There’s an important reason for nominating Byron. And that is, this country needs a change. This country needs leadership that does not reflect this city, this town, that is badly broken,” Rep. Chip Roy of Texas announced Donalds as his choice during a floor statement. “We’re not at the place where we need to be to guarantee that we stand up to the swamp that steps over the American people on a daily basis.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik was a formidable opponent for Donalds when he ran for Republican conference chair, but Donalds finally won with 74 votes at the conference meeting in November.
McCarthy’s backers have gone on the offensive, warning the GOP that he is their last chance for a successful speakership race.
“I am a retired Navy SEAL enlisted guy. I’ll let you in on a few universal truths. Rocks are heavy. Trees are made of wood. Gravity is real. No other Republican can pull 218,” Derrick Van Orden, a new congressman from Wisconsin, said in an interview with the Daily Caller.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) entered the conversation and said that President Trump had pushed Republicans to abandon their campaign against the certification of election results.
“Let’s stop with the campaign smears and tactics to get people to turn against us,” Boebert asserted, according to USA Today. “Even having my favorite president call us and tell us we need to knock this off, I think it actually needs to be reversed.”
“The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy, ‘Sir you do not have the votes and it’s time to withdraw.’” To applause from McCarthy’s opponents, Boebert remarked.
Rep. Byron Donalds was a highly favored candidate for House Speaker; on the same day, he got two nominations, the second of which came from his coworker She.
The political scene in Washington, D.C., is immobilized since no resolution is in sight until Republicans choose a Speaker of the House and settle this contentious disagreement.
