After 11 unsuccessful candidatures for the election as Speaker of the US House of Representatives, McCarthy won 14 of the 21 rebels on Friday’s first ballot. That put him ahead of Democrat Hakeem Jeffries for the first time. However, he again missed the required absolute majority.
218 of the 435 votes are required to elect the Speaker of Parliament. Because the Republicans only have 222 seats, McCarthy could only afford four dissenters. After around 20 party friends had refused to support him in the ballots since Tuesday, only seven Republicans voted for his two opponents in the twelfth ballot on Friday. McCarthy had 213 votes, Democrat leader Jeffries had 211.
The Republican leader went into the ballot with optimism. “We will make progress, we will shock you,” he said before the session began.
More and more concessions
The 57-year-old has recently been more and more accommodating to his opponents and has thus made himself open to blackmail. The radical party rebels, many of whom are ardent supporters of former President Donald Trump, are demanding, among other things, that internal rules of procedure in Congress be changed. With these adjustments, their power in Parliament would be strengthened. “Above all, McCarthy’s most stubborn opponents seem intent on bringing him down,” said the New York Times.
Despite further concessions, 20 Republicans stubbornly voted for alternative candidates from their party on Thursday. They exposed McCarthy and denied him an election victory. Another Republican representative abstained. The longer the power struggle drags on, the more likely it is that McCarthy will lose support within his own ranks. According to observers, he has to win over some rebels in further votes to show that there is at least some movement in the deadlock.
“Likes to make history”
The Republican faction leader repeatedly downplayed the internal revolt against him and rejected allegations that the uprising in his own ranks was weakening him. Referring to the historic scope of the drama, he said, “I like making history.” He also holds the record for the longest speech in the House of Representatives.
More ballots last 1859/1860
The choice of speaker is actually considered a formality. It has been 100 years since a candidate for the House of Representatives vote did not win the necessary majority on the first ballot: in 1923 it took nine ballots to choose a leader. Only in 1859/1860 were there more ballots than this time. 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.
The powerful post of “speaker of the house” comes third in the state rankings in the United States after the president and his vice president.
Anniversary: Storming of the Capitol
The chaotic conditions in American democracy come at a time when the country is remembering the unprecedented attack on the US Capitol. The brutal attack on the seat of parliament marks the second anniversary this Friday.
On January 6, 2021, supporters of then President Trump violently stormed the Congress building in the capital Washington. Congress met there to formally confirm the victory of Democrat Biden in the presidential election. Trump had previously incited his supporters in a speech that he had been deprived of a victory by massive election fraud. Five people died as a result of the riots.
Commemoration without Republican leadership
At a memorial service to mark the second anniversary, House Democrat leader Jeffries commemorated the victims of the Capitol storm. “We are gathered here to honor their memory and to acknowledge with deep gratitude the tremendous bravery of hundreds of officials,” Jeffries said Friday on the steps of the US Capitol.
Relatives of the victims had also gathered in front of the congress. The uprising has shaken the US to the core — that goes for many people in the country and members of Congress, added Jeffrie’s predecessor, Nancy Pelosi. Members of the Republican leadership did not attend the memorial service.
