Posted on 01/06/2023 11:01:16 AM PST by Red Badger
Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., lost yet another speaker of the House vote on Friday, despite broadening his base of support.
McCarthy received 214 votes, short of the amount needed to be elected. He can only afford to lose four votes if every member casts a vote for a nominee.
While a speaker still hasn't been elected, McCarthy did make some progress as 12 Republicans who opposed McCarthy earlier, voted for him on the 12th ballot.
The process to elect a new speaker has entered its fourth day, making it the longest such process in 164 years.
RELATED House adjourns with no speaker elected; McCarthy loses 11th vote McCarthy was nominated for a 12th time after he has fallen short in each round of balloting in his quest to be elected House speaker. Democrats again nominated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who has received the votes of all 212 of the party's members in each vote.
A coalition of detractors seeking to prevent McCarthy from becoming speaker has nominated various other lawmakers over the course of the four days of voting. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz nominated Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Friday while Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., again nominated Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern.
Jeffries received 211 votes during the first ballot Friday, while Hern received three and Jordan received four.
RELATED U.S. House adjourns, delays seventh House speaker vote Reps. Ken Buck, R-Colo., Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, and David Trone, D-Md., didn't vote.
House Republicans held a conference call starting at 10:15 a.m. EST Friday to discuss strategy ahead of the voting session which is scheduled to begin at noon.
McCarthy, who was first elected to Congress in 2006, insisted Thursday evening that he was making progress on a deal to win back some of his detractors and repeated that message Friday.
RELATED House adjourns after Kevin McCarthy fails in first three ballots for House speaker "We're going to make progress, we're gonna shock you!" McCarthy told reporters Friday morning as he arrived at the U.S. Capitol.
"We're going to get it done."
Coming into Friday representatives had spent 17 hours and 55 minutes in the voting process, preventing the 118th Congress from conducting any business, including the swearing in of new members.
McCarthy and his supporters continue attempts to negotiate a deal with their party's hardliners who have thus far refused to support McCarthy through 11 rounds of balloting.
"If Kevin McCarthy doesn't bow out, then he will have to live the entirety of his speakership in a straightjacket constructed by these rules that we're working on now," Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., told Fox News in an interview Thursday evening.
"We have zero trust in Kevin McCarthy."
Gaetz, the leader of the coalition against McCarthy, also delivered a four-minute speech during Thursday's voting session where he nominated former president Donald Trump for the speaker role.
So far, 20 GOP members have continually voted against the 57-year-old. With 435 members in the House of Representatives, McCarthy can only afford to have four of his colleagues withhold their support.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., a McCarthy ally said progress is indeed being made.
"The main things we're talking about are a conservative agenda around spending and the nature of our Republican majority. That's really the crux of the conversation. And that's really the contours of it," he told CNN Friday morning.
"What I've seen over the last 36 hours is immense amount of effort to take the emotion out of this and get into the substance of the challenges."
Earlier in the week, McCarthy's failure to win marked the first time since 1923 that a speaker was not elected during the first round of balloting.
Skip all that crap. Fire McCarthy and hire a guy like Jim Jordan. Government should be run like a business. Replace poor performers.
Kevin doesn’t apparently take hints very well.
The holdouts know we need new leadership.
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But themselves are unwilling to lead. Says as lot.
I have no problem with drafting of women, after all they want to be equal. However, they should be given exactly the same basic and AIT training regimen as men.
Agreed.
The Democrats and the media use the exact same phrase across
a multitude of people in front of cameras on certain topics.
We have people going out in front of the camera and stating
exactly opposite opinions.
McCain used to pull that routine all the time. Others would
be using pretty good talking points. He’s go out and back
the Democrats, or come up with some other horse’s ass
opinion diametrically opposed to the others.
Used to frustrate me to no end.
GOP is already shrinking. By applying litmus test to issues, GOP will become more and more irrelevant, and democrats will become permanent majority.
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As of this performance by the genius clowns, the GOP is a permanent minority.
Jim Jordan doesn’t want it. He wants to chair the Judiciary.
But I don’t understand why they couldn’t have nominated somebody who could get more votes.
......It’s always been placeholders as no MAGA supporters have the spine to directly oppose McCarthy....
Obviously this isn’t about anyone to oppose McCarthy......so then what are they holding out for? .....Play long enough they may end up with Demorat Jeffries at the rate this is going....Demorats are known to pull their stunts in the last hour.
Never give them fodder. Because give them an inch, they’ll take a mile…or make it into a mile.
They had zero fodder before Jan 6.
Nothing could really stick. Everyone knew it. They were full of crap.
Continue conducting yourselves in good manner and the evil commie enemy will have nothing ultimately to stand on.
What’s embarrassing is that this is being turned into the end of days.... calling folks who don’t go along terrorists... etc... that’s what’s embarrassing.
These folks have a right to vote how they see fit, McCarthy needs to get enough of them to vote for him to be speaker if he wants the job... If he can’t do that, how can he drum up votes for legislation?
The system is working EXACTLY LIKE IT SHOULD.. the folks trying to demonize those who aren’t sticking with the program are the real problem here, in my opinion.
Correct! This debacle has demonstrated that he has no ability or inclination to handle the job. I am surprised that he has managed to keep his support, but sooner or later they will begin to see the stupidity and begin to to peel off.
Lots of reasons, it’s not exactly a fun position and who has the support?
With a caucus that only holds a 4 seat majority you literally need to get the votes of 98% of the people voting to vote for you... All it takes is 5 people to choose someone else and you don’t reach 218.
Reality is, McCarthy should have been doing this before the first vote, but clearly didn’t.. he didn’t respect those who opposed him and frankly behaved arrogantly as if it was just his to have.
This all should have been done before the first vote, and to me that signals that McCarthy isn’t up to the job IMHO.
However, no one else is going to get 98% of the vote either, not with McCarthy in the race... he’d have to step aside to clear the majority to vote elsewhere and that’s not going to happen.
He is now at 214 votes... he needs 4 more from the 8 holdouts... Safe assumption is he will get them, what he will promise to get them, who knows, but he’ll almost certainly get them.
How long and how much he has to yield to get them is the question
At some point it’s got to sink in that they’re just not that into him, right?
The holdouts know we need new leadership.
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But themselves are unwilling to lead. Says as lot.
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Agreed, when is one of the holdouts going to stand up and say elect me?
The sad truth is that some republicans are anything but conservative!!!
Politics is a lot like sausage. If you like either one, it’s best you not watch it being made......
What is the end game here? The holdouts have offered no realistic alternative for Speaker. I would expect Andy Harris of Maryland (Eastern Shore) and Matt Rosendale of Montana to shortly change their minds - this bit with Gaetz saying he will resign from Congress if a Dem is elected Speaker (which is likely if this carries on) is exactly why this appears so idiotic. He was elected to represent his district and do it effectively; whinging and stamping his feet will get his positions nowhere. We have the borderline majority in this country - once the Freedom Caucus has achieved most of its goals, we have one of the three branches of government to use to advance the interests of America, period.
Your problem is that they are not Voting anywhere 80% with us.
In fact, McCarthy has been rated an ‘F’ on conservative issues.
Your analogy to Reagan’s approach is false.
I’m not sure but IIRC House rules prevent someone from nominating themselves.
Yea, I didn’t expect a reply to your common-sense post.
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