US: Kevin McCarthy loses seventh vote for speaker despite offering concessions
Jan 05, 2023
Washington [US], January 6 : Kevin McCarthy's bid for House speaker failed for a seventh time on Thursday, even after offering major concessions to his hardline conservative opponents late Wednesday, CNN reported.
The house will hold an eighth round of voting to elect a speaker. Kevin McCarthy has failed to secure 218 votes and had 20 total GOP lawmakers voting against him, as per the CNN report. In the seventh round of voting, GOP Republican Matt Gaetz voted for former President Donald Trump, while the other 19 voted for Donalds. The final tally was 201 for McCarthy, 19 for Donalds, one for Trump, and "one present vote."
The House on Thursday reconvened with some Republicans, including McCarthy, continuing to vote for electing the speaker. Ahead of the seventh round of voting, McCarthy said that they will witness today is the same until they complete everything out, as per the news report.
"Well, I think what you'll see today is the same until we finish everything out," CNN quoted McCarthy as saying before the seventh round of voting.
"Whenever you negotiate different things, nothing's agreed to until everything's agreed to. I wouldn't read anything into votes today," he added.
Kevin McCarthy has been conducting meetings with his allies on Capitol Hill and his opponents met on Thursday morning as House Republicans continue to try to devise a way forward. After meeting McCarthy, Representative Dusty Johnson of South Dakota said, "I think things are moving in the right direction," according to CNN.
The fight over the speakership which started on Thursday has thrown the new House GOP majority into chaos, CNN reported. The GOP tally for the sixth vote, which took place on Wednesday, was 201 for McCarthy, 20 for Florida Republican Byron Donalds of Florida, and one "present" vote.
The House will remain paralyzed until the standoff to elect a speaker continues. As per the news report, it is the first time an election for a speaker has gone to multiple ballots since 1923.
Notably, a candidate needs to win a majority of members who vote for a specific person of the House to become the speaker, which implies that a lawmaker requires 218 votes if no member skips the vote or votes "present."
