Update: A vote on Friday at noon led to a number of McCarthy holdouts switching their votes to him, but it still wasn't enough. While McCarthy got more votes than the Democratic nominee, Jeffries, for the first time in 12 votes, it was not enough to win the speakership. Seven Republicans voted against him. The total number needed is based on the number of representatives that vote in that particular votes, but McCarthy will still need more.
The US House of Representatives, without a Speaker, can’t accomplish anything else. It cannot pass bills or do any of the people’s business until this impasse is cleared.
The twelfth vote, which ended at 1:21 on Friday (EST), was:
McCarthy 213
Jeffries 211
Jordan 4
Hern 3
According to reports, McCarthy spent the past 24 hours negotiating with members, making promises, and planning on further conversations to allow him to become Speaker of the House. He will need more votes to become Speaker.
Original report:
The House of Representatives has been, in a word, chaos this week.
The vote for who will be Speaker of the House has been everything from tragic to laughable.
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who moved himself into the Speaker's office over the Christmas break, has lost 12 votes to be Speaker (as of Friday morning). A hardline group of about 20 Republicans has been keeping McCarthy from getting the speakership. Meanwhile, no other truly viable candidate has been nominated except for Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, who has consistently outperformed McCarthy on every vote.
Throughout this entire week, the Democrats, never known for being a monolithic group, have consistently voted for Hakeem Jeffries. He has received 212 votes in each election, winning the votes but not receiving the majority needed to be Speaker.
Thanks to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Donald Trump lost two more elections. Gaetz nominated Trump to be Speaker as the Constitution doesn’t require that the Speaker be someone who has been elected to the House of Representatives. It can technically be any US citizen.
McCarthy, in his efforts to compromise and negotiate his way into the speakership, has given the House a new tool to make his life difficult: a single member can call for a vote of no-confidence in the Speaker. While McCarthy thinks this is not going to be a problem for him, this new rule could make every week in the House a battle for leadership.
The House is expected to gavel into session around noon on Friday. Some inklings that a deal has been made that might allow McCarthy the win and the House of Representatives to get down to work on governing.
Image By Kevin McCarthy - https://twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1231329925413642240, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=93091206
Bob Peryea
National Correspondent
The Kentucky Daily