Kevin McCarthy Racks Up Historic 9th Loss for House Speaker
Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California has again failed to become speaker of the House, with his colleagues having taken nine votes as of Thursday afternoon without a majority settling on a speaker — and the House can’t do any other business until that happens.McCarthy, a former majority and minority leader in the House, is opposed by many members of his party’s far right, even though he’s pretty far to the right himself.
They have put forth alternative candidates including Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, and even Donald Trump, as the speaker usually is a member of the House but doesn’t have to be.
Earlier votes had seen Republican support for hard-righters such as Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.Democrats have supported Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who was previously set to become minority leader, with Democrats now outnumbered by Republicans in the chamber.
While, as a member of the minority, he will likely not be elected speaker, he’s now received more lifetime votes for the position than longtime Republican Speaker John Boehner, The Washington Post notes.Far-right and, of course, anti-LGBTQ+ Rep.
