McCarthy Fails Majority... US House Speaker Election Re-vote for the First Time in 100 Years

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House Majority Leader who was expected to be elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, failed to secure a majority vote on the 3rd (local time). As a result, a re-vote to elect the Speaker of the House will continue for the first time in 100 years.

According to the Washington Post (WP) and others, in the first round of voting for the Speaker of the 118th Congress held on the opening day, McCarthy secured only 203 votes. To be elected, a majority vote excluding abstentions (218 votes) is required, but as expected, the Republican hardliners blocked McCarthy's election.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

The Speaker of the House traditionally is held by the majority party leader. In this election, as per convention, the Republicans nominated McCarthy, and the Democrats nominated House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Meanwhile, the Republican hardliners separately nominated Representative Andy Biggs (Arizona), former chairman of the Freedom Caucus.

Since the Republicans hold 222 seats in the House, McCarthy needed few rebel votes to be elected Speaker. However, the votes McCarthy secured were not only less than a majority but also fewer than the 212 votes for Democratic Leader Jeffries. It was confirmed that 19 Republican members voted for Biggs and other candidates.

This is the first time in 100 years, since 1923, that the official nominee of the majority party in the House failed to secure a majority in the first round of voting. After the first-round results were announced, McCarthy strongly criticized the Republican hardliners who did not support him, saying, "Many are fighting for personal gain instead of fighting for the country."

This outcome was actually anticipated. Some Republican hardliners, including Representative Bob Good, have publicly criticized McCarthy’s election as Speaker, citing that he was not aggressive enough against the Democrats and President Joe Biden. McCarthy also continued behind-the-scenes negotiations until the day before to persuade the hardliners, but ultimately the first round ended in failure.

WP reported that "this is a blow to McCarthy, who spent recent weeks accommodating and persuading the Republican hardliners." The New York Times (NYT) assessed that "it was insufficient to appease the Republican’s unruly hardliners." Major foreign media reported that McCarthy appeared confident of his election before the vote, but the atmosphere changed as each member named the candidate they supported.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Accordingly, McCarthy is expected to continue additional negotiations to reduce defections ahead of the second round of voting. Republican Senator John Thune said, "I still think McCarthy has a path forward." Another Republican member expressed concern to WP, saying, "The situation will become very complicated as the second vote proceeds." There are also predictions that McCarthy will have to make greater concessions to appease the hardliners, which will take considerable time. The Speaker must be elected for major House schedules, such as the formation of standing committees, to proceed.

According to the Congressional Research Service, since 1789, there have been 14 instances where the Speaker election was not decided in the first round. The previous case was in 1923, when Representative Frederick Gillette was elected Speaker after nine rounds of voting. Just before the Civil War in 1855, as many as 133 rounds of voting were held. The NYT reported, "The election, which began in December that year, continued until February the following year," adding, "Exhausted by the marathon voting, members approved a resolution allowing multiple winners, and Nathaniel Banks won with just 103 votes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.