- Bernd Debusmann at the Capitol and Matt Murphy in London
- BBC News
1 hour
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Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives amid heated arguments that nearly ended in scuffles with his Republicans.
McCarthy eventually won office after 15 ballots which took place even though the Republican Party had won a majority in the House of Commons.
After a dramatic lobbying campaign broadcast live from the House of Representatives, Matt Gaetz, one of the party’s rebels, was asked to vote for McCarthy.
The Florida congressman was one of six to relent late Friday.
Gaetz previously came close to a fight with Republican Mike Rogers, a McCarthy supporter. Congressman from Alabama had to be physically restrained from his colleagues while yelling and pointing fingers at Gaetz.
“Never give up”
The President of the House of Commons sets the agenda and oversees legislative matters. The position is second only to the Vice President of the United States in the line of succession to the presidency.
Following his confirmation, McCarthy wrote on Twitter: “I hope one thing is clear after this week: I will never give up. And I will never give up for you, the American people.”
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Matt Gaetz (left) listens to Mike Rogers’ allegations.
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Mike Rogers faces full charges.
US President Joe Biden congratulated McCarthy on his victory and said he looks forward to working with the Republican Party.
“The American people expect their leaders to govern with their needs first, and we must do that now,” he said.
The Republicans have already agreed initiate investigations about Biden’s family business and about his government.
concessions
After the 13th ballot was postponed, McCarthy insisted to reporters that he “would have the votes” to take office in the next round.
On the twelfth ballot, McCarthy managed to persuade 14 Republicans to vote for him. Yet another rebel joined him in the thirteenth.
But the California congressman was three votes short of the 217 he needed to win the coveted office, and in chaotic and dramatic scenes he lost again on the 14th ballot.
Among the dissenters were members of the House Freedom Caucus, who say McCarthy is not conservative enough to guide them in their work to thwart Democratic President Joe Biden’s agenda.
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The rebels alternated their voices between pressure and concessions.
McCarthy has offered several concessions to the rebels, including a seat on the influential Rules Committee, which sets the terms for the chamber to debate legislation.
It was also agreed to lower the -a limit a single member of the House of Representatives – to hold a vote to impeach the president of that body, suggesting that even after McCarthy’s victory, the Republican coalition could easily crumble again.
democratic criticism
Senior Democratic Party lawmakers accused McCarthy of relinquishing power to an extreme wing Republicans, comparing the internal struggle in the opposition to the riots that Trump supporters staged in the Capitol exactly two years ago, interrupting Biden’s confirmation as president.
“Two years ago, insurgents failed to take the Capitol,” Congressman Eric Swalwell wrote on Twitter. “Tonight Kevin McCarthy let them take over the Republican Party.”
For his part, Virginia Congressman Don Beyer highlighted the angry scenes among Republicans that followed the fourteenth ballot:
“Troubling that this trial ends on this day with threats of violence in the House of Representatives. It cannot determine the outcome, but that is no way of managing the affairs of the people. A dark and sobering moment that will likely be remembered long after this session is over.”
The Democrats, a minority in the chamber, had continued to vote in unison for their leader, New Yorker Hakeem Jeffries, the first black man to lead a party in Congress.
Friday was the first day McCarthy’s vote tally surpassed Jeffries’.
since 1860On the eve of the Civil War, the lower house of Congress had not voted that many times to choose a speaker. At that time, 44 rounds of voting were necessary.
In the November midterm elections, Republicans won the House of Representatives by a narrower-than-expected margin of 222 votes in favor and 212 against. The Democrats retained control of the Senate.
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