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.
Exclusive: AOC says Republican chaos shows how reasonable progressives like the Squad are
Shock scenes as Republican held back in confrontation with Matt Gaetz during Speaker vote
How Matt Gaetz and AOC cleared the air on their positions over Kevin McCarthy voteTrump phone-ins, near-fights and 15 votes: Key moments from a chaotic House Speaker election
Speaker McCarthy: A weakened leader or emboldened survivor?
“Republican Kevin McCarthy is the new House speaker, but as bruising as it was for him to seize the gavel in a history-making election, it may be even more difficult for the embattled leader to do much with the powerful position — or to even keep it,” writes Lisa Mascaro for The Associated Press.
“Like the two most recent Republican speakers, John Boehner and Paul Ryan, McCarthy takes the helm of a restive, rebellious majority split in much the way as the party itself, between what’s left of the Grand Old Party conservatives and a new generation of tea party-to-Donald Trump hard-liners preferring almost no big government at all.”
Full report below.
Speaker McCarthy: A weakened leader or emboldened survivor?
Republican Kevin McCarthy is the new House speaker, but it took day and days, and 15 roll call votes, ending early Saturday
Calls for C-SPAN to be given greater freedom to films the House after wild speaker election scenes
Just after midnight on Saturday, Kevin McCarthy was finally elected speaker of the House by his Republican colleagues, after an astounding 14 previous unsuccessful rounds of voting. The incident not only put a spotlight on the division and dysfunction within the GOP.
It also, after numerous, drawn-out, dramatic votes, highlighted how rare it is for the public to actually watch the work of Congress live, inspiring calls to give C-SPAN more control over its cameras inside the House.
As the House struggled to get its normal business underway, cameras from C-SPAN, the nonprofit public affairs network backed by large cable companies, caught all kinds of notable scenes.
Wild scenes from Speaker vote inspire calls for C-SPAN to always control cameras
Public access network has given new visibility to messy work of Congress
Marjorie Taylor Greene boasts of ‘perfect phone call’ from Donald Trump
Representative-elect Marjorie Taylor Green boasted of “the perfect phone call” from former president Donald Trump shortly before Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the US House of Representatives early on Saturday.
The GOP member elected from Georgia shared a picture of herself holding out her smartphone to colleague Matt Rosendale, with “DT” flashing on the screen, likely referring to the former president.
He could be seen holding his hand out and waving it away, as Ms Greene attempts to hand the phone over to him.
Read on below.
Marjorie Taylor Greene boasts of ‘perfect phone call’ from Trump amid speaker crisis
Greene shared a picture with her phone flashing ‘DT’
Republican held back in confrontation with Matt Gaetz during Speaker vote
A near-brawl broke out between Republicans on the House floor late on Friday night as four days of frustration at Matt Gaetz’s refusal to back Kevin McCarthy’s teetering bid for Speaker boiled over.
Republican House member Mike Rogers had to be physically restrained after lunging at Mr Gaetz amid chaotic scenes on Capitol Hill.
Congressman Richard Hudson, of North Carolina, grabbed Mr Rogers from behind around his face and shoulder and pulled the irate Alabama Congressman away.
Full story below.
Republican held back in confrontation with Matt Gaetz during Speaker votes
Chaos reigned during the final House speaker vote on Friday night, as Rep Mike Rogers had to be physically restrained after apparently lunging towards holdout Matt Gaetz
Matt Gaetz says he ran out of things to ask for as McCarthy kept caving to all his demands
Matt Gaetz said he finally agreed to vote “present” after Kevin McCarthy agreed to all of his demands.
“I ran out of things I could even imagine to ask for,” Mr Gaetz told CNN reporter Melanie Zanona after Friday night’s dramatic vote.
After previously vowing to never vote for Mr McCarthy, Mr Gaetz was one of six holdout Republicans who changed their vote to present on Friday night.
Full story below.
Matt Gaetz says he ran out of things to ask for as McCarthy kept caving
‘Never Kevin’ holdouts were given a series of concessions before McCarthy could become Speaker
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