The Republicans are deadlocked and fail to elect a “speaker” to the US House of Representatives. An unprecedented scenario in 100 years.
LThe votes follow one another and look alike: the elected representatives of the American House of Representatives were unable on Wednesday to choose a “speaker”, blocked in an unprecedented impasse in 100 years.
Sharp divisions in the Republican ranks completely paralyze the process of nominating a president. After six rounds of an inconclusive election, the second day of voting was suspended until 8 p.m. (2 a.m. Belgian time).
Favorite to replace Nancy Pelosi at the perch, the Republican Kevin McCarthy is dependent on the goodwill of about twenty elected Trumpists who accuse him of being too moderate and deliberately playing the spoilsport.
“Embarrassing”
Members of the most conservative fringe of the party, these elected officials take advantage of the very thin Republican majority won in the mid-term elections in November to set their conditions. Without their support, Kevin McCarthy cannot be elected. America wants “a new face, a new vision, a new leadership”, argued the turbulent elected representative of Texas Chip Roy.
United States: Republican fiasco at the opening of Congress
Kevin McCarthy, a member of the Republican general staff for more than ten years, has already acceded to many of this group’s demands, without this allowing the situation to be unblocked. Worse, opposition to his candidacy seemed to crystallize.
The election of the “speaker”, the third most important figure in American politics after the president and the vice-president, requires a majority of 218 votes. Kevin McCarthy has so far failed to exceed 203. The California elected official does not have a credible competitor. Only the name of group leader Steve Scalise is circulating as a possible alternative, without his chances seeming serious.
Democratic President Joe Biden called this situation “embarrassing”, assuring that “the rest of the world” was following the mess in Congress closely. Among the non-refractory and largely majority Republican elected officials, annoyance was beginning to be felt, giving rise to very lively debates in the hemicycle. “It’s an endless new day,” quipped Florida lawmaker Kat Cammack, urging the group of free spirits to toe the line.
On Wednesday morning, Donald Trump came out of the woodwork, calling on his social network for his party to do everything to “avoid an embarrassing defeat”. But the former president, whose reputation as a kingmaker has been seriously questioned in recent months, has also failed to convince them.
United States: civil war among Republicans in Congress
This blockage has very concrete repercussions: without a president, elected officials cannot take an oath, and therefore pass any bill. The Republicans also cannot open the numerous investigations they had promised against Joe Biden.
Boon for Biden?
A situation that the Democrats observe with some amusement, throwing a few smirks and applause in the hemicycle. Joe Biden’s party is united around the candidacy of Hakeem Jeffries, but the elected official does not have enough votes to be elected to the perch either.
Elected officials will continue to vote until a Speaker of the House of Representatives is elected. This was to be a matter of a few hours, but could extend over several weeks: in 1856, the elected members of Congress only agreed after two months and 133 turns.
Facing a hostile but messy House could prove to be a political boon for Joe Biden, if he confirms his intention to run again in 2024 – a decision he is due to announce earlier this year. The Democratic president went to Kentucky on Wednesday to praise the construction of a new large bridge financed by a pharaonic infrastructure law that he carried, and which had collected some Republican votes in Congress.
