Internal disputes continued within the narrow Republican majority, and after six failed votes since Tuesday, members of Congress decided to suspend sessions until Thursday noon (17:00 in Lisbon) to vote on the speaker of the House of Representatives, the US House of Representatives. Congress.
The decision came after the absence of agreement between Republican Kevin McCarthy and 20 opponents of the more conservative wing of the Republican Party that controls the House of Representatives in the US Congress since the mid-term elections in November 2022.
The election of the speaker of the House of Representatives known as the “Speaker of the House of Representatives” requires a majority of 218 votes. However, McCarthy never added more than 203. Despite his preference to succeed Democrat Nancy Pelosi, McCarthy still has not been able to convince the anti-vote minority that he is too moderate. Without your support, McCarthy cannot be elected.
McCarthy, 57, has responded to many of the group’s requests, but the deadlock persists. Some opponents accuse the candidate of financing more moderate candidates in the midterm elections in November, in which the conservatives managed to wrest control from the Democrats, but they often failed to achieve the good results that many media outlets expected.
Others criticized McCarthy for not negotiating with them to reform the rules of debate and names to lead congressional committees in the new state. One of them, Texas Congressman Chip Roy, said America wanted “a new face, a new vision, and a new leadership.”
Faced with a split threatening to open further in the Republican Party, Donald Trump – who plans to run for re-election in 2024 and maintains heavy influence over the party – declared his support for McCarthy, but even that had no effect.
On his social network, Truth Social, Trump urged the party to “avoid disgraceful defeat.” “It’s time for all House Republicans to vote for Kevin, close the deal and win,” he wrote. The former president added, “Kevin McCarthy is going to do a good job, maybe even do a great job.”
In turn, the US President Joe Biden had already described the blockade on the election of the new leader of the House of Representatives as “shameful”, warning that “the rest of the world” is watching the United States closely.
However, their political opponents’ struggles seemed to amuse some Democrats, who were seen laughing and mocking Republicans during the sessions. During the polls, Biden’s party rallied around the nomination of Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. However, the congressman elected from New York does not have enough countable votes to be elected, unlike McCarthy.
This situation, unprecedented in the past 100 years in the US Congress, is crippling the establishment. Without the Speaker of the House, elected members of Congress cannot take the oath and thus pass bills.
The House Leader is the third-highest-ranking authority in the country, after the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and the Vice President, Kamala Harris, who also presides over the Senate.
Find alternatives
Faced with a GOP deadlock, Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida is emerging as a possible option among conservatives who refuse to support Kevin McCarthy.
McCarthy’s opponents nominated several other candidates, such as Andy Biggs from Arizona or Jim Jordan from Ohio.
Byron Donalds joined the list of opponents on Tuesday, changing his vote from McCarthy to Jordan and also appearing as an alternative to lead the House of Representatives in the US Congress, the Associated Press reports.
Donalds, 44, was elected in November to his second term in Florida’s 19th district, in the southwest of the state.
A native of Brooklyn, Donalds was raised by a single mother and graduated from Florida State University in 2002. His wife, Erika Donalds, is an advocate for the choice school movement in the state.
Last year, Donalds told CBS that McCarthy had “done tremendous things” for House Republicans.
And in the first two rounds of voting on Tuesday, Donalds voted for McCarthy before choosing Jordan in the third round, stating via Twitter: “The reality is… McCarthy has no votes.” Already on Wednesday, when his name was indicated, Donalds voted for him.
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