Republican Kevin McCarthy has reached out to the twenty elected Trumpists playing the spoilsport. In vain. The group still refused to fall into line after a ninth vote.
LRepublicans were busy behind the scenes Thursday to finally appoint a “speaker” to the US House of Representatives and put an end to the paralysis generated by the revolt of a handful of elected officials from the right wing of the party.
United States: discontent rises among Republicans
Favorite to replace Nancy Pelosi, the Republican Kevin McCarthy reached out to the twenty elected Trumpists playing the spoilsport, offering them sizeable concessions. In vain. The group still refused to fall into line after a ninth vote, an unprecedented scenario in 160 years.
This blockage has very concrete repercussions: without a President of the Chamber, elected officials cannot take the oath or therefore pass a bill. “I have hope today that Republicans will stop bickering, backbiting and backstabbing, so that we can work in service to the American people,” said Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
“Faulty system”
Members of the most conservative fringe of the party, these elected Trumpists fundamentally do not trust Mr. McCarthy and take advantage of the very thin Republican majority won in the November mid-term elections to set their conditions.
The Republican, who cannot be elected without their support, notably acceded to one of their requests aimed at facilitating the ousting of the “speaker”. But opposition to his candidacy seemed to crystallize.
“We have to fix this broken system,” said Montana elected official Matt Rosendale, urging other Republicans to join their revolt.
A ceiling of 201 votes
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 currently capped at 201.
The House will continue to vote until a Speaker is elected. What is generally only a matter of a few hours could extend over several weeks: in 1856, the elected members of Congress only agreed after two months and 133 turns.
United States: Republican fiasco at the opening of Congress
“There is no doubt that the problems which divide us today are much less serious than those which we had in 1856”, launched the elected official John James, calling on his colleagues to line up immediately with Kevin McCarthy.
