American Chamber, McCarthy does not get the necessary votes to become a speaker-Corriere.it

From our correspondent
WASHINGTON – Not in a hundred years has a president appointed by the majority party in the House of Representatives not had the necessary consensus on the first ballot. Today’s event in Kevin McCarthywho until this morning was trying to impress Rebel MPs from his party, declaring at a meeting in the basement of the house that he was worthy of the role of leader, but only exacerbating the differences. On the opening day of the new room, A group of conservatives is holding the Republican Party hostage.

Republican Rep. from California, who gives responsibility after Jan. 6, 2021 Donald Trump Congress was attacked but two weeks later he repaired relations with a therapeutic trip to Mar-a-Lago, So he did not get the necessary votes to become the new Speaker of ParliamentI’m the one who took office today in Washington. Trump also tried to persuade his supporters to support McCarthy but failed in several instances. What is normally a formality turns into a week-long negotiation with a group of far-right colleagues, whose consent is essential given the narrow Republican majority (222 to 212 Democrats, 1 open seat). McCarthy needed 218 votes: so he could not afford to be opposed by more than four members of his own party. Instead it was an insult: He scored only 203, losing 19, more than initially expected. Ten voted for Andy Biggs, while another 9 split over other candidates. Now it will be necessary to proceed with successive votes until a majority is reached. In 1923, it took nine ballot papers to choose Speaker Frederick Gillett. And only fourteen times in American history has this vote been held more than once, thirteen of which were before the Civil War. Democrat Hakeem Jeffries was elected unanimously by the Democrats, But even if his votes are higher than McCarthy’s, the Democrats do not have a majority of seats and therefore cannot elect the speaker.

McCarthy also lost on the second ballot with the same score: 203 votes in favour, 19 no. On the third he lost another vote, stopping at 202. Voting will be postponed to tomorrow.

It is not the first time the speaker has dealt with an internal rebellionOne of his predecessors, John Boehner, likened this action to keeping 218 frogs in a wheelbarrow long enough to pass a law. But McCarthy, 57, the son of a Bakerfield firefighter who actually dropped out of the race for speaker 7 years ago and is being tutored by Kevin Spacey to prepare for his role in the TV series House of Cards, found himself facing an even bigger hurdle. Appeasement of both the moderates and the Trumpists wasn’t enough to push him over the finish line. He has made many concessions to the far right – The last Sunday evening: to facilitate his removal by allowing only five deputies to call for a vote on his leadership. But nine members of the Freedom Caucus, which includes the most conservative, argued that this is not enough: The era requires a radical change.

These skeptics join the No. 5 group of Republicans on the front Never Kevin (Andy Biggs from Arizona, Matt Gaetz from Florida, Bob Goode from Virginia, Matt Rosendell from Montana, and Ralph Norman from South Carolina). In many cases, the reasons are more personal than political: for example, after January 6th, McCarthy said he would like Matt Gaetz removed from Twitter. The aspiring speaker has only Kevin’s consistent front on his side (which was shown in December pins with the inscription OK). After the vote, one of the pro-McCarthy MPs asserted: We will vote for him no matter how long it takes.