After falling one vote short, McCarthy tries 15th ballot to become Speaker of the House
11:30 p.m. with McCarthy victorious on 15th ballot.
That lowered the threshold needed for a majority. Shortly after midnight, McCarthy finally secured the job he’d angled years for by one vote, after falling a single vote short an hour earlier. McCarthy by then was all smiles, and looking even more confident than before that the momentum growing through the day would put him over the top.
But it did not please McCarthy, who had summoned two supporters back to Washington to provide crucial votes. One was Houston’s Wesley Hunt, whose wife gave birth prematurely early this week. McCarthy embraced him as the Texan cast his vote after the House reconvened at 10 p.m. Friday. Other Republicans applauded, as they had when holdouts finally declared their support earlier in the day.
The deal struck Friday included more spots for conservatives on the Rules Committee, which controls how bills are debated and amended on the floor, and a change allowing any single member to call for a vote to oust the speaker. That still left him shy of the 218 needed to become speaker if the entire House was voting, and some of the maneuvering Friday focused on persuading some holdouts to vote “present,” lowering the threshold to win.Six Republicans opposed him on the 13th ballot.
“Willie needs his father and Emily needs her husband,” Hunt tweeted. “Today, I’ll be returning home to hold my son and be at my wife’s side. It’s my intention to get back into the fight as soon as possible.” “Too few people are making too many decisions for the American people in ways that undermine the health and well being of this institution, the country and American people,” Roy said. “That has a chance to change today, and that’s why we’re here.”
“This will change this House, let’s be very clear,” Self said after voting for McCarthy. “We will have a strong rules package that the Republican conference will vote for. I have been proud to stand with these colleagues behind me and I have no doubt we will get there.” ”To some who’ve looked and said, ‘Hey, this looks crazy. It looks whatever’ ... This is what a government for the people looks like,” Cloud said. “It’s deliberative. It’s people talking through issues.”
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