The House will come back into session Wednesday after McCarthy’s bid failed on three ballots on the first day of the new Congress. Republicans won back the House in the midterms, but with a slim majority, requiring near-consensus to move votes forward.
The stunning failure of the House to elect a speaker on its first round of voting came after McCarthy and his allies spent weeks working to secure the 218 votes needed for him to take the gavel. Republicans won back the House in, but with a slim, four-vote majority, requiring near-consensus among the conference to move votes forward.
McCarthy’s inability to clinch the necessary 218 votes to become speaker in one day — something that hasn’t happened— has led members into uncertain territory and undermined Republicans’ goal to govern now that they have the majority. As a result, the GOP’s intraparty fighting only grew more fervent and transparent as the day went on, with many no longer holding back insults toward the detractors.
McCarthy still has several maneuvers to make to win over holdouts, including withholding committee assignments and possibly further diminishing the power of the speakership. He has already put into the House rules that five lawmakers can recall the speaker at any time, after pledging that he would not accept changes to the current motion to vacate rule that allows a member of leadership to oust the speaker. But it was unclear if his opponents would accept any more concessions.
“Under pressure from members who said we won’t accept the status quo, we have been able to force rule changes to make things better,” Perry said.Over the weekend, McCarthy unveiled a final rules package before holding another conference call with members to discuss it. Shortly thereafter, Perry and Roy led seven other Republicans in opposition, saying the rules package didn’t go far enough in restoring power taken by leaders over time from members.
McCarthy finds himself stuck in the middle of the first decision Republicans must make to officially convene the 118th Congress. Without a speaker elected, the House cannot swear in all members to vote for a rules package that will dictate how the House governs over the next two years.
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