Unable to elect Republican leader Kevin McCarthy as the new House speaker on Tuesday, Republicans adjourned the day in chaos as the party tried to regroup from its historic defeat after a long and tumultuous start to the new Congress.
The last surprise move for Day One shows there is no easy way for McCarthy to claim the gavel fell to the opposition of the conservatives. Needing 218 votes in the full House, McCarthy got just 203 in two rounds — falling short of Democrat Hakeem Jeffries in the GOP-controlled chamber. The third round of voting was worse, with McCarthy losing 20 votes as night fell on the new House GOP majority, tensions rising as all other business came to a standstill.
The House of Representatives agreed to return on Wednesday.
McCarthy has promised “war on the floor” for as long as it takes to overcome the right-flank fellow Republicans who refuse to give votes. But it’s unclear how the ousted GOP leader can bounce back after the first House speaker nominee in 100 years failed to win the hammer with his party’s majority.
Without a speaker, the House cannot be fully formed – swearing in its members, naming committee chairs, participating in floor proceedings and launching investigations into the Biden administration.
“We’re all here to get things done,” said the second-ranking Republican, Rep. Steve Scalise, in a stunning speech urging his colleagues to drop their protests.
Against President Joe Biden’s agenda, Scalise said, “We can’t begin to fix these problems until we elect Kevin McCarthy as the next speaker.”
It’s a chaotic start to the new Congress and points to a bumpy road ahead with Republicans now in control of the House. A new generation of conservative Republicans, many aligned with Donald Trump’s MAGA agenda, want to restore business as usual in Washington, and are committed to ending McCarthy’s rise without concessions to priorities.
“The American people are watching, and that’s good,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who nominated fellow conservative Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio as an alternative for speaker.
It was the second time conservatives pushed forward reluctantly Jordan, McCarthy’s rival-turned-ally, who had previously risen to urge colleagues, even those who supported him, to drop the vote for McCarthy.
“We’ve got to get around them, come together,” Jordan said.
Jordan got six votes in the first round, 19 in the second round and is on track to take the same number in the third.
Smiling, McCarthy listened for a moment to his aides, then appeared to be only trying to undermine his colleagues. Earlier, he entered the room, took a photo, and received a standing ovation from the crowd on the side of the aisle after being nominated by the third-ranked Republican, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who said the Californian from gritty Bakersfield. “has what it takes” to lead House Republicans.
But in the first vote a challenge was quickly raised by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., the former leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus, who was nominated by fellow conservatives as speaker. In all, 19 Republicans peeled off, denying McCarthy the majority he needed to vote for Biggs, Jordan or others in protest.
The mood was tense, at least on the Republican side, as lawmakers rose from their seats, taking lengthy private votes. Democrats rejoiced when they gave their own historic votes for the leader, Rep. Jeffries of New York.
In the first round tally, McCarthy won 203 votes, with 10 for Biggs and nine for other Republicans. In the second, it was 203 for McCarthy and 19 for Jordan. Democrat Jeffries has the most, 212 votes, but no nominee won the majority.
After the raucous private GOP meeting, a core group of conservatives led by the Freedom Caucus and aligned with Trump, fumed, calling the meeting a “defeat” by McCarthy’s allies and standing firm in opposition to the GOP leadership.
“Someone can change all of this,” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., the Freedom Caucus chairman and leader of Trump’s effort to challenge the 2020 presidential election.
The group said McCarthy rejected the group’s final bid for rule changes at a meeting last Monday at the Capitol.
“If you want to drain the swamp you can’t put the biggest alligator in the control exercise,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
“He eagerly dismissed us,” said Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.
Lawmakers are meeting in a new era of divided government as Democrats relinquish control of the House of Representatives after losing the midterm elections. While the Senate remains in Democratic hands, barely, House Republicans are eager to face President Joe Biden’ after two years of Democrats controlling both houses of Congress.
Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi closed the final session, ousting the new House leader in the Democratic Party, to a standing ovation from colleagues across the aisle.
The pastor opened with a prayer seeking to keep the 118th Congress alive.
But first, House Republicans must elect a speaker, second in succession to the president.
Even with the endorsement of former President Trump, McCarthy collapsed.
Democrats enthusiastically chose Jeffries, D-NY, who took over as party leader, as their choice for speaker — a gesture that is usually symbolic in the minority but which takes on new significance as Republicans are in disarray.
“A Latino nominated in this room is a black man for our leader for the first time in American history,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the third-ranking Democrat, in his colleague’s nomination.
A new generation of Trump-aligned Republicans is leading McCarthy’s opposition. He doesn’t think he’s conservative enough or tough enough to fight Democrats.
Rep. Dusty Johnson, RS.D., leader of the more pragmatic conservative group, said “frustration is rising” with the minority faction.
A viable challenger to McCarthy has yet to emerge.
The second-ranking House Republican, Scalise of Louisiana, could be the next choice, a conservative beloved by his colleagues and seen by some as a hero after surviving a gunshot wound he suffered during a congressional baseball practice in 2017.
The last speaking contest was held in several rounds in 1923.
This year’s deadlock is in stark contrast to the other side of the Capitol, where Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell will officially serve as the party’s longest-serving leader in history.
Despite being in the minority in the Senate, where Democrats hold a 51-49 majority, McConnell could prove to be a viable partner as Biden seeks a bipartisan victory in an era of divided administration. The two are expected to appear together later in the week in the GOP leader’s home state of Kentucky to celebrate federal infrastructure investment in a key bridge connecting Kentucky and Ohio.