The U.S. House of Representatives vote failed to win a majority to elect Republican Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House for the fourth consecutive time, and this comes amid a split among the Republicans, and the House of Representatives will continue to vote until the election of the Speaker of the House, and this is happening in an unprecedented scenario in almost a hundred years And the most likely candidate to replace Nancy Pelosi as President of the House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy, is still waiting for the vote of about twenty deputies who support former President Donald Trump, accusing him of excessive moderation and deliberate obstruction of this process.
And with a change in parliamentary rules and an increase in the number of MPs belonging to the ultra-conservative current in the party, these MPs are using the weak Republican majority they won in the midterm elections in November to impose their conditions, and without their support, McCarthy will not be able to reach office, and the representative Texas-based Chip Roy reported that Americans want “a new face, a new vision and new leadership.” And Kevin McCarthy, who has been the leader of the Republicans for more than a decade, responded to a number of demands from this group, but without breaking the deadlock, rather, opposition to his candidacy seemed to intensify.
Democratic President Joe Biden called the situation “embarrassing,” stressing that “the rest of the world” is watching the mess.
Irritation began to appear among Republican representatives who did not oppose his candidacy and constituted the majority, which caused heated debate in the House of Representatives. “It all looks messy,” said Rep. Mike Gallagher, who is close to Kevin McCarthy.
On Wednesday morning, former U.S. President Donald Trump broke his silence and urged his party on his social media to make every effort to avoid “defeat,” saying: “The time has come for our Republican representatives in the House of Representatives to vote for a Kevin McCarthy who will perform well or even work.
But the former president, whose reputation as a kingmaker has come into question in recent months, has also failed to persuade the conservative bloc to vote for the party.
And it requires the election of the speaker of the House of Representatives, the third most important figure in American politics after the president and vice president, by a majority of 218 votes, and during the first four rounds of voting, McCarthy could not pass the threshold of 203 votes.
This situation also paralyzes the entire institution, since without a president, representatives cannot be sworn in and therefore pass any bill, and Republicans cannot launch the many investigations they promised against Joe Biden.
Democrats watch this situation with some amusement and sometimes begin to laugh in the hall or applaud. The Democratic Party is rallying behind the candidacy of Hakeem Jeffries, but the representative does not have enough support to be elected Speaker of the House.
Representatives will continue to vote until the President is elected to the House of Representatives. This can take hours or weeks. In 1859, members of Congress did not agree on a president until two months and 133 sessions.