The House adjourned on its first day in session after three rounds of voting failed to secure enough votes for a new Speaker of the House
Republicans could not agree on who should be the next Speaker. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy's attempt to replace Nancy Pelosi failed in the first two rounds of voting, with a third ballot's round of voting still failing to secure enough votes.
The House adjourned after the third round attempt after GOP Rep. Tom Cole called for voting to cease until noon ET on Wednesday.
McCarthy's defeat is historic—the first time in 100 years the House did not elect its speaker with the first round of ballots cast.
The final vote count totaled 212 for Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, 20 votes for GOP Rep. Jim Jordan and 202 votes for McCarthy.
It takes 218 votes to become speaker and Republicans have 222 members. McCarthy had 203 votes in both rounds.
All 212 Democrats voted in favor of their party's nominee, Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
McCarthy did not concede, vowing to stay in the race for Speaker of the House for as long as it takes.
Several Republicans said they would not support McCarthy.
On that first vote a challenge was quickly raised by Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a conservative former leader of the Freedom Caucus, who was nominated by a fellow conservative as speaker. In all, 19 Republicans peeled away, denying McCarthy the majority he needs as they cast votes for Biggs, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio or others in protest.
Before the second vote, rival-turned-McCarthy ally Jordan, who got six votes in the first round, rose to urge his colleagues, even those who backed him as an alternative, to drop their opposition.
“We have to rally around him, come together” Jordan said of McCarthy.
But Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida followed with a vigorous re-endorsement of Jordan, underscoring the chaos within the party.
“I rise to nominate the most talented, hardest working member of the Republican conference, who just gave a speech with more vision that we have ever heard from the alternative,” Gaetz said.
Jordan got 19 votes in the second round.
After a raucous private GOP meeting, a core group of conservatives led by the Freedom Caucus and aligned with Donald Trump's MAGA agenda were furious, calling the meeting a “beat down” by McCarthy allies and remaining steadfast in their opposition to the GOP leader.
“There’s one person who could have changed all this,” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., the chairman of the Freedom Caucus and a leader of Trump's effort to challenge the 2020 presidential election.
The group said McCarthy refused the group's last-ditch offer for rules changes in a meeting late Monday at the Capitol.
“If you want to drain the swamp you can't put the biggest alligator in control of the exercise,” said Gaetz.
Biggs tweeted on Monday, “I refuse to assist him in his effort to get those votes.” He ran against McCarthy to be the GOP’s leader late in 2022.
“Even after the McCarthy Machine’s attempts to whip votes and smear my name for several weeks, McCarthy is still well short of the 218 threshold,” Biggs tweeted. “Our party still requires new leadership and I will continue to oppose McCarthy for House Speaker.”
We barely got through half the ballot before confirming that McCarthy is still well short of 218 votes.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) January 3, 2023
My colleagues have made clear that our party deserves a new leader.
McCarthy should stand down and allow us to select someone else in the next ballot.
Electing a speaker is generally one of the first actions the House must do before organizing for the term. Once a speaker is elected, items such as committee chairs and agendas can be decided.
The speaker of the House also falls just below the vice president on the presidential line of succession.
Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gaveled closed the last session, moving aside for new House leadership in her Democratic Party, to a standing ovation from colleagues on her side of the aisle.
Democrats enthusiastically nominated Jeffries, who is taking over as party leader, as their choice for speaker — a typically symbolic gesture in the minority but one that took on new importance as Republicans were in disarray.
“A Latino is nominating in this chamber a Black man for our leader for the the first time in American history,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the third-ranking Democrat, in nominating his colleague.
