Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives after heated exchanges that nearly led to a brawl between fellow Republicans.
Despite his party’s majority in the chamber, Mr. McCarthy was elected after 15 rounds of voting.
Party rebel Matt Gaetz was urged to vote for Mr. McCarthy during a dramatic live pressure campaign on the House floor.
The Florida representative was one of six holdouts who caved late on Friday.
Earlier, during heated scenes in the chamber, Mr. Gaetz nearly exchanged blows with Rep. Mike Rogers, a McCarthy supporter. The Alabama congressman was physically restrained by his colleagues as he yelled and jabbed Mr. Gaetz with his finger.
The Speaker sets the agenda for the House and oversees legislative affairs. The position is second in line to the presidency after the vice president of the United States.
Kevin McCarthy is House Speaker
Following his confirmation, Mr. McCarthy posted on Twitter. “I hope this week has made it clear that I will never give up. And I will never stop fighting for the American people.”
President Joe Biden congratulated Mr. McCarthy on his victory and expressed his eagerness to work with the Republican Party.
“The American people expect their leaders to prioritize their needs above all else,” he said. “This is what we must do now.”
Republicans have already pledged to investigate Mr. Biden’s administration and family business dealings.
In a remarkable turnaround in the twelfth round of voting, Mr. McCarthy convinced 14 Republican holdouts to vote for him. A fifteenth rebel followed suit for the thirteenth vote.
Mr. McCarthy asserted to reporters following the adjournment of the thirteenth ballot that he would “have the votes” to win the speakership in the fourteenth round.
However, the California congressman was still three votes shy of the 217 needed to grab the gavel. And despite tumultuous and dramatic circumstances on the 14th ballot, he again failed to win.
Included among the dissidents were members of the House Freedom Caucus. Who argue that Mr. McCarthy is insufficiently conservative to lead them in their efforts to oppose the agenda of Democratic President Joe Biden.
Mr. Biden’s administration and family business dealings
Mr. McCarthy has offered the rebels several concessions, including a seat on the influential rules committee. Which determines the parameters for legislative debate in the chamber.
In addition, he agreed to lower the threshold for triggering a vote on whether to unseat the Speaker to just one House member, thereby increasing the likelihood that the Republican coalition could easily fracture again after Mr. McCarthy’s victory.
As the final voter, Montana’s Ryan Zinke cast his ballot. The House floor erupted in applause as it became evident that Mr. McCarthy had won.
Mr. McCarthy embraced other representatives and signed autographs, while the Democrats’ side of the room remained completely silent. No democratic party member applauded.
Senior Democratic Party lawmakers accused Mr. McCarthy of ceding power to an extremist wing of his party. And compared the standoff to the riot that occurred on Capitol Hill exactly two years ago when Trump supporters disrupted Mr. Biden’s inauguration as president.
“Insurrectionists failed to seize the Capitol two years ago,” tweeted Congressman Eric Swalwell. Tonight, Kevin McCarthy allowed them to seize control of the Republican Party.
Mr. McCarthy has offered the rebels several concessions
And Virginia Representative Don Beyer mentioned the enraged Republican behavior following the fourteenth count.
“It’s unsettling that this process concludes on this day with threats of violence in the House chamber,” he said. Perhaps it did not affect the outcome, but that is no way to conduct the business of the people. A moment of darkness and sobriety will likely be remembered long after this session concludes.”
The minority Democrats had continued to vote in unanimity for their leader. New York’s Hakeem Jeffries, the first black person ever to lead a party in Congress.
Friday was the first day when Mr. McCarthy’s vote total overtook that of Mr. Jeffries.
Mr. McCarthy began his acceptance speech with a joke: “That was simple, wasn’t it?” Among the Republican policy goals he highlighted were cutting prices. Safeguarding the US-Mexico border, and combating what he termed “woke to brainwash.”
He stated that one of his key priorities was to curb “wasteful Washington expenditures.”
After the vote, he congratulated former President Trump, whom he said had supported him from the beginning. “He would call me and others as well… I was just speaking with him tonight to secure the remaining votes “.
Saturday morning at 02:00 local time (07:00 GMT), 14 hours after the gavel rung for the first time at midday, members began to leave the Congress.
Not since 1860, in the lead-up to the American Civil War, has the House of Representatives voted so frequently to select a speaker. Back then, there were 44 rounds of voting.
In the midterm elections of November, Republicans won the House by a narrower margin than anticipated, 222 to 212. Democrats maintained their majority in the Senate.
