WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., lost his seventh vote for House speaker Thursday, despite conceding to several new demands from his right-wing opponents.
An eighth vote is expected, although there are few signs that McCarthy’s fortunes will improve.
“I think everyone in the conversation wants to find a solution,” McCarthy said on the way to the House chamber for the vote. “What we’re doing is very good progress in the conversation. I think everyone in the conversation wants to find a solution.”
But with voting still underway, Rep. Byron Donalds, Republican of Florida, has already secured 10 votes, more than enough to sink McCarthy’s prospects in this round. McCarthy needs at least 218 votes to win the gavel. With 222 Republicans in the House, he can’t lose more than four votes.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., handed over the gavel at noon Friday, after Republicans took control of the chamber in the November election. The absence of a speaker has thrown the House into dismay, largely because rank-and-file members can’t be sworn in until a speaker is elected and can’t set up local or Washington offices. This makes all 434 members of the House of Representatives technically still elected members, not official representatives.
Ahead of the votes on Saturday, the leader of the Democratic Party berated the Republicans for the dysfunction of the party, and emphasized the harm that is going to be a day without the speaker of the House inflicting on the legislative branch and the nation.
“We can’t manage district offices, get our new members to do the political work of serving our constituents, helping the people who sent us here,” Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., told reporters at the Capitol. Thursday morning. “Kevin McCarthy’s ego in pursuing the speaker at all costs has drowned out the voice and needs of the American people.”
Democrats have also argued that the speaker’s absence threatens US national security by preventing members of Congress from accessing classified intelligence that is only available to lawmakers after taking the oath of office, which no one can take without the speaker.
“At the end of the day, all Republicans are asking is to find a way to govern so that Congress can come together and do the business of the American people,” said Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DNY. , said in a press conference with Clark.
He accused McCarthy of being “arrested for his own ambitions.”
“It’s about your responsibility to govern the government. It’s fundamental to who we are as members of Congress,” Clark said.
McCarthy, meanwhile, held talks last night on Wednesday with both allies and opponents to try to reach a deal that will get him the gavel, after six failed votes over Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I think we’re making progress,” McCarthy said as he entered the Capitol Thursday morning, according to NBC News. “I think people are talking and that’s a good sign. I think this is very good. Look, we’re all working together, finding a solution.”
McCarthy’s latest concession paves the way for a new vote that begins Thursday at 12 p.m. ET.
US House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) reacts on the floor of the House Chamber with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) as a Democrat forcing the House to choose whether to continue the last evening session against McCarthy’s wishes, during the competition for Speaker of the House continues, on the second day of the 118th Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, USA, January 4, 2023
Jonathan Ernst Reuters
It is unclear whether the pledges made will translate into changes in Thursday’s vote count.
The first major concession McCarthy agreed to Wednesday was a rule change to allow members of his party to request a vote to replace the House speaker at any time, a lower threshold than the current bar, according to NBC News. .
“Anyone, anywhere, anytime,” is how Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of McCarthy’s staunchest opponents, explained the new rules to NBC late Wednesday night.
Gaetz also said McCarthy has agreed to name members of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus for positions on key committees, including the powerful House Rules Committee, which controls which bills make it to the floor for a vote, and which bills languish indefinitely in committees. .
This change meets another demand from the right, that its bloc of members be given the power to push bills they like to the House floor.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) passionately addressed other conservative Republican members of the House in the middle of the House Chamber after the fourth round of voting still failed to elect US House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as the new Speaker. House on the second day of the 118th Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, US, January 4, 2023.
Evelyn Hockstein Reuters
McCarthy’s allies did not deny they had agreed to new concessions, NBC reported, but declined to confirm specifics.
“The question is movement and positive movement,” Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-NC, told NBC News and other reporters camped outside the meeting room late Wednesday night. “We’ve had a very positive discussion this evening and it seems that there is a lot of goodwill around the Republicans and McCarthy that is being formed in a very good way.”
The limited progress came after McCarthy fell short of six votes in two days to reach the minimum number needed to become speaker, in this case 218 votes, if all 434 members of the House of Representatives were present to vote.
Not only did McCarthy fail to hit 218, but over the course of 48 hours, McCarthy’s support actually shrunk from 203 to 201, after two members of his caucus, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds and Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz, changed votes.
Democrats, meanwhile, remained in lockstep throughout the votes, casting all 212 of the ballots unanimously each time for Jeffries.
Incoming Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), incoming Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA) hold a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, December 13, 2022.
Elizabeth Frantz Reuters
This is a developing story and will be updated throughout the day.