The leader of the Republican faction, Kevin McCarthy, following the results of the third round of voting, was not elected speaker of the lower house of the US Congress. The next meeting will take place on January 4th.
A new session of the House of Representatives of the US Congress was postponed until 12.00 (20.00) on January 4 amid the failure in the third round of the election of the leader of the Republican group Kevin McCarthy (from the state of California) as the speaker of the lower house. In Washington, the 118th convocation of the US Congress began work on Tuesday, January 3.
The main rival of the 57-year-old McCarthy – the leader of the faction of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives Hakim Jeffreys (from the state of New York) received 212 votes. The Republican leader, despite his party’s control of the lower house, is only 202. To win, it is necessary to get 218 votes.
Twenty Republicans supported another fellow member of the party – Jim Jordan (from Ohio), in the first two rounds 19 votes were cast.
Hardline conservatives opposed McCarthy’s candidacy
First – the fourth round on January 4th. McCarthy’s candidacy was opposed by hardline conservatives. The results of the vote upset the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
For the first time in a century, the lower house failed to elect a speaker on the first ballot. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) left office.
Jordan has not officially nominated himself as a candidate.
Kevin McCarthy has announced that he will not withdraw his candidacy and intends to participate in the procedure until he wins.
Protracted speaker elections can derail progress on the agenda
A slow election could dash Republican hopes for swift progress on agendas including investigations into the administration of President Joe Biden and his family, as well as the economy, US energy independence and national security. border, some analysts say.
The House of Representatives could be paralyzed, and lawmakers may have to consider another candidate for speaker. In addition to Jordan’s last name, experts named Steven Skalis, a member of the House of Representatives from the Republican Party (from Louisiana).
The election of the speaker of the House of Representatives takes place before its members are sworn in for a two-year term.
Republicans have a majority in the lower house of the US Congress
According to the results of the midterm elections in November 2022, the Republicans received 222 seats in the lower house of the US Congress, the Democrats – 213. Members of the Republican Party gained control of the chamber and the speaker’s seat, which is occupied by Pelosi.
At the end of the 117th convocation, the US House of Representatives passed an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2023 (starting October 1, 2022 and ending September 30) in the amount of $1.7 trillion (€1.6 trillion). On December 23, 2022, the votes were almost split along party lines: 225 lawmakers supported the document, 201 spoke against it. The document was later signed by President Joe Biden.
Source: DW
It was previously reported that in the United States, following the results of two rounds, the election of the speaker of the House of Representatives of the Congress failed.
Recall that the leader of the Democrats in the lower house of the United States for the first time became a black person – Hakim Jeffreys, who replaced Nancy Pelosi in this position.
news Correspondent.net on Telegram. Subscribe to our channel Athletistic
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.