Breaking: McCarthy Loses Fourth Vote for Speaker

janvier 04, 2023

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday failed to win the House speakership in a fourth vote.

The House resumed voting on Wednesday afternoon after adjourning the night before at the conclusion of three failed attempts at electing a speaker.

Representative Chip Roy (R., Texas) nominated Representative Byron Donalds (R., Fla.) during the fourth vote, pulling 20 much needed votes away from McCarthy. Representative Victoria Spartz (R., Ind.) voted “present,” moving away from her support of McCarthy in the previous ballots.

The vote headed to a second ballot on Tuesday for the first time since 1923 after 19 Republicans voted against McCarthy in the first round. He could only afford to lose the votes of four House Republicans in order to hit the 218 vote threshold needed to win.

Nineteen Republicans voted against McCarthy in the second round as well. Donalds joined the group of defectors in the third and fourth rounds of voting.

"The reality is Rep. Kevin McCarthy doesn't have the votes," Donalds said in a tweet explaining his decision to switch on Tuesday. "I committed my support to him publicly and for two votes on the House Floor. 218 is the number, and currently, no one is there. Our conference needs to recess and huddle and find someone or work out the next steps but these continuous votes aren't working for anyone."

Nonetheless, McCarthy said Tuesday evening he does not plan to drop out of the race for speaker under any circumstances.

"It’s not going to happen," McCarthy said, per CNN.

He also said he thinks he is “not that far away” from securing 218 votes.

Former president Donald Trump attempted to gin up support for McCarthy on Wednesday.

"[I]t's now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY, & WATCH CRAZY NANCY PELOSI FLY BACK HOME TO A VERY BROKEN CALIFORNIA, THE ONLY SPEAKER IN U.S. HISTORY TO HAVE LOST THE 'HOUSE' TWICE!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Meanwhile, McCarthy previously offered several concessions on Sunday in an effort to persuade his critics.

"Just as the Speaker is elected by the whole body, we will restore the ability for any 5 members of the majority party to initiate a vote to remove the Speaker if so warranted," McCarthy wrote in a letter addressed to House Republicans over the weekend.

He also offered to tighten up House proxy-voting procedures.

"Congress was never intended for Zoom, and no longer will members be able to phone it in while attending lavish international weddings or sailing on their boat. We will meet, gather and debate in person — just as the founders envisioned," McCarthy said.

However, a group of nine conservative Republicans wrote a letter over the weekend saying McCarthy has not done enough to win their support. Roy signed the letter, as did Representatives Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Andy Harris of Maryland and three representative-elects.

McCarthy pushed back against the demands of his detractors while talking to reporters on Tuesday.

"For the last two months we worked together as a whole conference to develop rules that empower all members but we're not empowering certain members over others," he said. "Last night I was presented the only way to have 218 votes: if I provided certain members with certain positions, certain gavels to take over committees, to have certain budgets and they even came to the position where one Matt Gaetz said, 'I don't care if we go to plurality and we elect Hakeem Jeffries and it hurts the new frontline members not to get reelected.’"

"Well that's not about America and I will always fight to put the American people first, not a few individuals that want something for themselves," McCarthy said. "So we may have a battle on the floor but the battle is for the conference and the country."