For the first time in a hundred years. In the US, they can’t choose a speaker

In the US House of Representatives, after eight attempts, they could not elect a speaker, all because of disagreements within the Republican Party.

The Republican Party in the previous elections to the US Congress won a majority in the lower house of the US Parliament – the House of Representatives, but so far it has not been able to use this majority. All due to the fact that the Republicans could not get their representative to the speaker’s seat.

To be elected speaker, a candidate must get a majority of 218 votes. House Republicans hold 222 seats in the new Congress, but not everyone is ready to vote for Republican leader Kevin McCarthy. Failed for 8 votes in a row.

The most important position

The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the third position in the US government hierarchy. In addition, he plays an important role in shaping the agenda of the chamber, in particular, the approval of financial assistance, which is also important for Ukraine. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is the former Speaker of the House.

Kevin McCarthy failed to get enough votes to be elected speaker, marking the first time since 1923 that a candidate was not appointed to one of the highest positions in the American power hierarchy on the first attempt.

The 57-year-old Republican, who has been elected to Congress since 2007, continues to fall 12-15 votes short of what Republicans have. Kevin McCarthy previously said he was in favor of continuing support for Ukraine throughout its war with Russia, but would not agree to write, in his words, “an unlimited check.” Republicans have also previously advocated the establishment of mechanisms for closer supervision of aid in Kyiv – this does not mean its decrease, but it could be slowed down procedurally.

Revolt of the Right

McCarthy’s votes were taken away by the far-right, Trumpist wing of the Republican Party in Congress, which has up to 20 members.

In December, when it became clear that the Republican Party would have a slight advantage in the US House of Representatives (222 to 213 for the Democrats), the right-wing Trumpist Republicans, represented mainly by the informal group Freedom Caucus, McCarthy began to be forced to make many procedural concessions.

Although the Freedom Caucus was not a large group (it had just over 40 Republicans in the lower house of Congress), with a small party advantage, McCarthy was forced to negotiate with them to gain enough voting support. for his candidacy.

In the end, he agreed to several demands – notably the right to vote to remove the speaker from office if at least five members of the House of Representatives expressed dissatisfaction with his work (which would effectively in McCarthy’s office to the Trumpists), as well as appointing Trumpists to several key positions on House committees. But even this, as it turned out, was not enough for McCarthy to get enough votes.

Today the House of Representatives formally continues without a speaker. Even Trump himself has called for a vote for McCarthy, but it has yet to yield results.

What will happen next?

The problem for McCarthy himself is that any further concessions to Trumpists will weaken his influence. It also increases the likelihood that he will be impeached in the future – and in the year there will be a really heated battle in Congress over the budget or the national debt ceiling.

McCarthy could also hope that Democrats would tire of constant voting and stop engaging with them, reducing the majority needed to win a majority. However, at least for now, the Democrats are clearly enjoying the chaos in the competitors’ camp.

There is an option for Democrats and Republicans to come together to reject a more conservative speaker and choose a moderate compromise candidate.

There have been many such speculations, as McCarthy’s position has inevitably deteriorated in recent days. Some comments in this spirit are a clear attempt by his supporters to send a signal to conservatives, they say, do not stand out from the collective. But some are quite serious.

There is talk that Republicans could make concessions to Democrats, for example by introducing rules changes that would increase the power of the minority in committees or their right to introduce legislation.

True, this requires the consent of a large number of Democratic congressmen, which, given the current inter-party antagonism, looks very difficult. And any Republican who joins the Democrats will immediately become persona non grata to most conservatives.