WASHINGTON — Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., failed again to secure enough support in his second bid Tuesday for U.S. House speaker, sending the chamber into a third round of voting.
During two tense voice votes earlier in the day, every Democrat on the floor rallied unanimously around incoming Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., while a sect of conservative Republicans split from their party to back other candidates, including longtime McCarthy ally Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
McCarthy won 203 of the 218 votes needed to secure the post in the first two rounds of voting. Jordan, who nominated and voted for McCarthy, won 19 votes in the second round after other contenders were dropped. Jeffries had 212 in both rounds. The chamber is taking a third vote since none of the candidates won a clear majority. McCarthy is facing Jordan and Jeffries in the third round.
U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) reacts as Representatives cast their votes for Speaker of the House on the first day of the 118th Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 03, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Win Mcnamee | Getty Images News | Getty Images
McCarthy’s failure to win public support from his entire caucus has already cast a shadow over the new Republican majority, exposing divisions within the party that have existed for decades. The differences were deepened by former President Donald Trump, who emboldened a small band of ultra-conservatives.
Trump eventually backed McCarthy’s bid for speaker, as did other influential conservatives such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. But the ex-president’s sway within the GOP caucus did not prevent McCarthy’s initial defeat Tuesday.
Conservative Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who got 10 votes in the first round, tweeted that the tally showed Republicans “have made clear that our party deserves a new leader.”
“McCarthy should stand down and allow us to select someone else in the next ballot,” he wrote.
The mood on the House floor following the first vote was cheerful and energetic, due in part to the presence of members’ children and family members, many of whom came to witness what they expected would be swearing in ceremonies. But until a speaker is elected, the rest of the chamber’s members-elect cannot be sworn in, because their oath of office is administered by the speaker.
House Republicans began Tuesday morning with a caucus meeting that was viewed as McCarthy’s final opportunity to make his pitch to members who might be on the fence.
After the meeting but before the vote, McCarthy told reporters that “we may have a battle on the floor, but the battle is for the conference and the country, and that’s fine with me.”
“Look, I have the record for the longest speech ever on the floor, I don’t have a problem getting a record for the most votes for Speaker too,” he added.
Judging from early statements by key Republican holdouts, the conservatives had a long list of demands they believed McCarthy has failed to meet.
House Democrats, meanwhile, openly relished the internal chaos roiling the opposing party.
“We certainly are seeing chaos today in Congress, and this is an extension of the extremism that we have seen from the GOP,” incoming House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
She accused McCarthy of having “thrown away his moral compass.”
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.