The United States House of Commons decided this Thursday, against opposition from the entire Democratic minority, to postpone the twelfth vote to elect its new president until Friday noon (17:00 GMT).
“Since no candidate received a majority of the votes cast, no president was elected,” Chamber Secretary Cheryl Johnson said after Republican Kevin McCarthy’s 11th unsuccessful election attempt, which did not receive the necessary support. in his own party, which holds the majority.
One McCarthy critic, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, voted for Donald Trump in two rounds, a symbolic but clear sign of division within the Republican Party.
Democratic nominee Hakeem Jeffries received 212 votes, a far cry from the 218 needed to replace in office Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who is the third authority in the United States.
Republicans narrowly won the vote to adjourn the House of Representatives, as all Democrats vehemently opposed it. So McCarthy’s allies bought themselves time to try to persuade his critics to accept an agreement.
unusual situation
McCarthy is the first candidate since 1923 to lose a vote to lead the House of Representatives.
There are twenty Republican congressmen who are reluctant to support McCarthy, despite the concessions the candidate has been trying to make in recent days. This lack of consensus has revealed the split between the more moderate wing of the Republican Party and the radicals led by Donald Trump.
The 118th US Congress should have started last Tuesday, but it remains paralyzed as McCarthy tries to persuade his critics and debates whether it might not be better to find another candidate who would generate more consensus.
Which position is being voted on?
The House of Commons, or House of Representatives, is constituted in the United States every two years. Once constituted, a president, known as the “speaker,” must be elected. It is one of the most important political positions in the United States.
So far, Democrat Nancy Pelosi has held the position for two terms (2007-2011 and 2019-2023). A figure who is the third authority in the country, behind only United States President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who also chairs the Senate.
His role in the House of Representatives is to set much of the legislative calendar, which projects will be voted on and when. He can therefore decide from his position which projects are to be voted on and when.
How is the election process?
The Republican still has 201 votes, one up or one down, and needs 218 votes to be elected.
This is the majority of those present in the chamber as the country’s lower house has 435 seats. There are currently only 434 congressmen since Virginia Democrat Donald McEachin died in November.
After last November’s election, Republicans have a slim majority of 222 congressmen, complicating the task of McCarthy, who must convince virtually all Republicans.
Should any of the 434 members of Congress abstain from voting or abstain from voting, the hurdle to achieving a majority would drop.
Why can’t McCarthy unite his party?
Although McCarthy grew up in a Democratic family, he met Republican lawmaker Bill Thomas and began working for him as an intern. He later integrated them into his party.
The Republican has led the opposition since 2019, which made him the ideal choice, even if he wasn’t able to convince his entire party.
He stepped into national politics from California just over a decade ago and was number two in that house between 2014 and 2019.
This isn’t the first time McCarthy has attempted to become Speaker of the House. It happened in 2015 when Republican John Boehner left office after losing the support of the Tea Party’s heirs.
It was then that McCarthy proposed taking his seat, which did not sit well with the Republican Party’s most radical minority, forcing him to withdraw his candidacy.
Who is against McCarthy and what are they asking for?
The twenty recalcitrant congressmen belong to the Freedom Caucus, a group founded in 2015 by the most extreme Republicans – many of them members of the extinct Tea Party – with the goal of pushing the Republican leadership to the right and loyal to former President Donald Trump .
Among the concessions McCarthy is willing to make is the ability to submit to a no-confidence vote to remove him only at the request of one of the 435 MPs.
What’s more, he intends to give him representation well above what is his in one of the most powerful commissions in the Chamber. This commission depends, among other things, on which laws are put to the vote.
Finally, they are calling for multiple chairs on the Rules Committee, ensuring voting on border issues, and chairing multiple subcommittees.
What does Trump say about this?
Despite the fact that most critics are staunch Trump supporters, the former president has had to step in to try to resolve the mess.
“Now is the time for all of our great Republican members of the House to vote for Kevin, close the deal and claim victory,” he said in a message on his social network Truth Social.
“Republicans, don’t turn a big win into a huge, embarrassing loss,” added Trump, who has announced he will be running for his party’s nomination in next year’s presidential election.