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JUST IN: Kevin McCarthy elected House speaker after 15 votes and days of negotiations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There might not have been more dramatic television late Friday night than the events unfolding on the House floor at the U.S. Capitol, in which Kevin McCarthy’s protracted fight for the speaker’s gavel came to an end after the California Republican eked out a victory in the 15th round of voting.

McCarthy had been in tense negotiations for days with a small but critical group of far right conservative lawmakers who made extended demands for concessions that would essentially make it easier to depose a speaker and weaken the powers of the speaker’s office to drive the legislative agenda and assign committee posts.

After McCarthy failed to secure the speakership in a 14th round of voting late Friday night, the House squashed a motion to adjourn until Monday and instead opted to continue voting in a 15th — and ultimately final — round of balloting.

McCarthy emerged victorious after Republicans Andy Biggs and Eli Crane of Arizona and Bob Good of Virginia voted present, which lowered the threshold of support the GOP leader needed to win.

Progress for McCarthy was slow earlier in the week, but he gained momentum in a Friday afternoon vote when 14 of his 20 detractors flipped to vote for him after four days and 12 rounds of balloting.

McCarthy projected confidence ahead of a planned 14th round of voting late Friday night, pledging to reporters: “We’re going to get it done tonight.”

But then McCarthy failed once again to reach the threshold needed to assume the gavel. McCarthy needed a majority of all members voting to win, which can fluctuate depending on who shows up. Of 432 votes cast in the penultimate round, McCarthy had 216. Two Republicans voted for Jim Jordan of Ohio, and two Republicans voted for Andy Biggs of Arizona. Democrats voted for Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

At least two McCarthy supporters, Ken Buck of Colorado and Wesley Hunt of Texas, traveled back to Washington, D.C., to cast their votes Friday evening after missing votes earlier in the day for personal reasons back in their districts.

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