Tremors in the US House of Representatives
Republican McCarthy also fails in the second ballot in the chief post election
01/03/2023, 7:55 p.m
Republicans regain control of the US House of Representatives in November. But the distribution of seats is tight and the Republican faction leader McCarthy is not without controversy. That’s why he fails in the election of the chairman – he should also miss a majority in the third ballot.
The Republicans began their takeover of power in the US House of Representatives with a historic demonstration of their division: For the first time since 1923, the chairman of the House of Congress was not elected in the first ballot. Republican faction leader Kevin McCarthy received only 203 of the 218 votes needed for the powerful office in the inaugural session. Nineteen members of the Republican Party voted for other candidates.
On the second attempt, 19 Republicans voted unanimously for Republican Congressman Jim Jordan. He had previously nominated McCarthy for the second ballot and persuaded his party colleagues to close the ranks. McCarthy again missed the majority. The Democratic faction leader Hakeem Jeffries got 212 votes. In the meantime, a defeat for McCarthy is also emerging in the third ballot. Again several party colleagues refused to support him and instead voted for Jordan.
The Republicans wrested control of the House of Representatives from the Democrats during the so-called Midterms. However, the result was much tighter than expected: the Conservatives will in future have a majority of 222 of the 435 MPs, the Democrats won 213 seats. Their nominee for the House of Representatives, parliamentary group leader Hakeem Jeffries, received 212 votes in the vote.
Voting up to the majority
At least five ultra-conservative MPs had declared before the meeting that they did not want to support their 57-year-old party colleague McCarthy. In this case, the US Constitution provides for voting to continue until a candidate receives the necessary 218 votes – even if this takes hours or, as in 1923, even several days. In the 1850s, it took 133 ballots over two months to elect the chairman, the previous record.
For McCarthy, it’s about a lot of political influence. The Speaker of the House of Representatives ranks third in the US political hierarchy behind President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, making him the head of state’s most powerful opponent.
Disputed party
Among the Republicans, a dispute is raging between those members who, like ex-President Donald Trump, want to move the party further to the right, and a more moderate wing. McCarthy faces accusations that, as a minority leader, he was not aggressive enough to stand up to the Democrats. “He’s part of the problem. He’s not part of the solution,” Republican MP Bob Good said on Fox News. “There is nothing to suggest to me that he will change his approach.”
The Senate remained in the hands of the Democrats in the November election. She was able to defend and even expand her narrow majority: in the future, she will make up 51 of the 100 senators.
The “split” Congress means Republicans can block major Biden policies, as bills in the US must pass identical forms in both houses. The next presidential and congressional elections will take place in November 2024.