Back At It: House Takes Another Vote On Kevin McCarthy’s Bid For Speaker

The House started another roll call vote on Kevin McCarthy’s bid for speaker, a fourth try to resolve a deadlock with 20 members of the GOP that have so far denied him a majority.

McCarthy’s GOP opponents put forth a different name for speaker: Rep. Byron Donalds, who has served as a representative from Florida since 2021.

Democrats again nominated Hakeem Jeffries, the party leader, who three times won a plurality of the votes given the divisions on the GOP side. Jeffries became the first African American nominated as speaker.

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Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who has been one of the leaders of the anti-McCarthy movement, nominated Donalds, who is Black. Roy drew applause from both sides of the aisle as he noted, “For the first time in history there are two Black Americans placed into nomination for speaker of the House.” Donalds voted for McCarthy in the first two roll calls on Tuesday, but switched to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who McCarthy holdouts had put forth as an alternative. As the roll call unfolded, he stood in the back of the chamber and watched, occasionally chatting with other members.

Throughout the morning, reporters staked out McCarthy’s office, hoping to get some indication of the gameplan for Wednesday, and if there was any sign of movement to his side. When McCarthy emerged from the chamber, he insisted that “at the end of the day we’ll be able to get there.”

News networks once again fixated on the chaotic process playing out, with C-SPAN offering candid shots in the chamber of the members as they watched the roll call play out. A spokesperson for C-SPAN said that they typically are given access to the chamber for big events, meaning that they don’t have to rely on government-controlled feeds, which typically provide wide shots of the chamber and close ups of the speakers.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), in nominating McCarthy, acknowledged that the process “looks messy,” drawing laughs on the Democratic side, where members have remained unified. Gallagher added, “We air it all out in the open for the American people to see.”

He tried to give members more reasons to back McCarthy, telling members that no one has gone above and beyond of bringing us to the majority” than the California Republican.

The House members have not yet been sworn in, something that can’t happen until a new speaker is selected. The scene was more subdued on Wednesday than it was on Tuesday, when many children were present as members invited family to witness their induction. But that never happened.

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