Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has fallen short in a fourth vote to choose the speaker of the House after another night and morning of negotiating failed to sway Republican detractors to his side.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), one of 20 GOP lawmakers to vote against McCarthy on Tuesday, nominated Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) after he and his colleagues coalesced around Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) the day before. McCarthy lost one additional vote, that of Republican Victoria Spartz of Indiana, who voted “present.”
The move lowers the threshold McCarthy needs to become speaker to 217. He had 201 votes on the fourth ballot, to Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’s (D-NY) 212.
McCarthy, who was weighing a vote to delay the speakership vote to allow more time to negotiate, declined to bring forward a motion to adjourn on Wednesday.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS FRITTER AWAY NEGOTIATING LEVERAGE VERSUS DEMOCRATS WITH SPEAKER FIGHT
“For the first time in history, there have been two black Americans placed in nomination for speaker of the House,” Roy said in a nominating speech for Donalds, prompting a round of applause.
Roy said his opposition to McCarthy is due to a lack of changes to the rules that the conservative group of detractors has been pursuing for months. Though McCarthy has made major concessions, Roy said the rules package isn’t where it should be.
“We have had a conversation for two months to advance the ball, and we have had success in doing that, but we’re not there,” he said. “We’re not at the place we need to be to guarantee that we’re going to be able to stand up in the face of the swamp that continues to step over the American people on a daily basis.”
Democrats continue to vote only for incoming Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), with Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) again nominating him ahead of the fourth ballot. Democrats are blasting the Republicans for delaying the beginning of business for the 118th Congress.
In a floor speech nominating McCarthy on Wednesday, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) said the “schadenfreude is palpable” from his colleagues across the aisle but defended the process as a “messy” part of democracy.
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Jordan had been adamant he will not be speaker and continues to support McCarthy over himself. Donalds voted against McCarthy on the third ballot on Tuesday.
Despite coming up short on three ballots on Tuesday, marking the first time since 1923 that the House has gone to a second ballot on a speaker vote, McCarthy has vowed to move forward with additional ballots. His allies insist he still has a path forward.
