House speaker vote: McCarthy thanks Trump for final votes as fight nearly breaks out on floor
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Your support makes all the difference.Kevin McCarthy was finally elected speaker of the House of Representatives after 15 rounds of voting, clinching the gavel just after midnight on Saturday.
The longest contest for speaker of the House of Representatives in more than a century finally came to an end as six remaining Republican holdouts opted to vote “present”, giving Mr McCarthy a majority over Democrat Hakeem Jeffries.
Earlier, Republican House member Mike Rogers had to be physically restrained after lunging at Matt Gaetz amid chaotic scenes in the House.
Congressman Richard Hudson grabbed Mr Rogers by his face and physically pulled him away.
In his first speech as speaker, Mr McCarthy thanked former president Donald Trump for “helping get those final votes”.
Mr McCarthy’s bid had been delayed by a group of far-right Republicans including the likes of Lauren Boebert and Mr Gaetz.
However, on Friday he made significant progress in the 12th ballot, managing to flip a total of 14 representatives-elect in his favour after lengthy negotiations.
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Democrat returns to Capitol after surgery to vote
Maryland Democrat Rep David Trone has returned to the Capitol to vote for Hakeem Jeffries having undergone long-scheduled surgery this morning at 7am.
...and on a similar note, two Republican congressmen are expected back tonight to vote for Kevin McCarthy.
Rosendale holds out and votes for Jordan
Rep Rosendale continues to be a holdout and votes for Jim Jordan.
This takes the total number of holdouts to six and means that McCarthy will likely lose this thirteenth ballot.
Brecheen issues statement after flipping vote to McCarthy
Representative-elect Josh Brecheen issued the following statement after voting for Leader Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House of the 118th Congress.
My vote that was cast today is pending the approval of the agreement that has been negotiated in good faith. After days of intense deliberations, I cast my vote today for Kevin McCarthy for Speaker after he agreed to conservative reforms to how the House of Representatives operates. What we have agreed to is transformative and will allow conservatives to rein in out-of-control spending. As I have said before, I did not come to Washington to preserve the status quo. I came here to reform Congress and fix the reckless spending that has plagued our country. I believe this agreement will help put us on the right track.
Despite earning the support of 14 conservatives who previously opposed McCarthy, he still came up short. I will vote for Mr. McCarthy as long as what we agreed to in negotiations remains in place.
An update on the arithmetic at play today
Rep-elects Ken Buck and Wesley Hunt are expected to return to the Capitol later today, which will give Kevin McCarthy a total of 216 Republican votes.
There are still six hardline votes against him.
Assuming all 212 Democrats remain in the chamber to vote, Mr McCarthy will need to either flip two of the holdouts in his favour; flip one of them and convince one or more to vote as “present”; or convince three or more of them to vote “present”.
Republicans reportedly aiming to adjourn
There are multiple reports that Republicans will now seek an adjournment until sometime tonight. This will presumably allow Reps Buck and Hunt time to return and allow for more negotiations with holdouts.
Per Roberts Costa at CBS:
One of McCarthy’s top allies just told CBS that meetings are being planned for rest of afternoon and evening, in private, with the remaining holdouts… hope to adjourn sooner than later to get those going… “have to close this and it’s not going to happen on the floor”
Final tally of ballot 13 confirmed
McCarthy: 214 votes (4 short)
Jeffries: 212 votes
Jordan: 6 votes
Scalise moves to adjourn House until 10pm
Rep Steve Scalise praises the work of the clerk and her staff for the work they are doing to applause. He moves to adjourn the House until 10pm tonight.
A voice vote produces a no according to the chair and Mr Scalise requests an electronic vote on the adjournment.
Voting is underway.
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